Richard Maibaum
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Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 - January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.
Maibaum was born in New York City, and attended New York University and the University of Iowa before working as an actor and playwright on Broadway.
His first film as screenwriter was in 1937, and after military service in World War II he joined Paramount Pictures as a writer and producer on films such as The Big Clock and The Great Gatsby. Maibaum established a friendship with Alan Ladd and in addition to writing several screenplays for Ladd, Maibaum acted as a script supervisor for Ladd. In the 1950s he became the favoured screenwriter for Irwin Allen and Albert R. Broccoli, who were making action films in UK under their Warwick Films banner. When Broccoli signed Ladd on for a three picture deal for Warwick, Ladd insisted on Maibaum co-writing the screenplays. His working relationship with Broccoli would extend into the phenomenally successful James Bond series, with Maibaum contributing to the screenplays of all but three of the films from Dr. No in 1962 until Licence to Kill in 1989. However, his contributions to Licence to Kill were disrupted by a strike by the Writers Guild of America.
[edit] Selected films as screenwriter
- Ransom (1996) — story
- Licence to Kill (1989)
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
- Octopussy (1983)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) — additional dialogue
- Thunderball (1965)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Dr. No (1962)
- Ransom! (1956)
- Zarak (1956)
- Bigger Than Life (1956)
- Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
- Hell Below Zero (1954)
- The Red Beret (1953)
- The Great Gatsby (1949)
- O.S.S. (1946)
- Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
- I Wanted Wings (1941)
- The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939)
- Coast Guard (1939)
- The Lady and the Mob (1939)
- They Gave Him a Gun (1937)
- We Went to College (1936)
[edit] Selected films as producer
- Battle at Bloody Beach (1961)
- Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
- No Man of Her Own (1950)
- Dear Wife (1949)
- Song of Surrender (1949)
- The Great Gatsby (1949)
- Bride of Vengeance (1949)
- The Sainted Sisters (1948)
- The Big Clock (1948)
- O.S.S. (1946)
[edit] External links
- Wes Britton’s SpyWise -- "The Man With the Golden Words: The Spy-ography of Richard Maibaum" - An article by Dr. Wesley Britton on Richard Maibaum.