Wolf Mankowitz, writer, impresario and porcelain expert, in 1980.
"A renaissancw man." - Richard Burton
"A sort of East End Joyce." - Anthony Burgess
"A f**k 'em Jew." -Frederic Raphael
The New York Times
May 28, 1998
Wolf Mankowitz, Novelist And Screenwriter, Dies at 73
By SARAH LYALL.
Photo: (Larry C. Morris/The New York Times)
LONDON, May 27— Wolf Mankowitz, a writer of eclectic interests whose prolific output extended to novels, plays, television drama and films, died on May 20 in County Cork, Ireland, where he lived. He was 73.
When he retired from writing books in 1991, he disclosed that he had terminal cancer.
Although he wrote fiction and nonfiction, created original screenplays and adaptations, and became an authority on porcelain, Mr. Mankowitz's best and earliest work, including the novels ''A Kid for Two Farthings'' and ''Make Me an Offer,'' captured the culture, humor and linguistic vibrancy of the heavily Jewish East End, the neighborhood into which he was born in 1924 and named Cyril Wolf Mankowitz.
He was the son of a Russian emigrant, Solomon Mankowitz, who sold antiques and second-hand books in an open-air East End market and who imbued his son with a love of both. When Wolf won a scholarship to Cambridge, his father sold all his stock, raising some $150 so that he would have the money to go.
Although he would go on to set up his own antiques business, later opening a highly successful porcelain shop in Piccadilly -- ''There is something spiritual in search of material to sell,'' he once said -- Mr. Mankowitz was determined to make his living from writing. After graduating from Cambridge, where he studied English under F. R. Leavis, edited a literary magazine and made ends meet by working in a bookshop, he began to write in earnest, winning an award from the Society of Authors for his poetry.
Mr. Mankowitz's first novel, ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), based on his experiences in the porcelain trade, told the story of a Wedgwood dealer searching for a replica of the Portland Vase. Selling an astonishing 17,000 copies within weeks of its publication, it was made into a film, with dialogue by the author, and later became a successful West End musical.
Another big success, ''A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953), which told the story of a poor East End boy and a magical one-horned goat, was translated into a number of foreign languages and in 1955 was made into a film directed by Carol Reed. And the film version of ''The Bespoke Overcoat,'' his novel about a Jewish tailor and his love of his job, won an Academy Award in the short-subject category in 1956. Another musical, ''Expresso Bongo,'' a sendup of the pop-music industry based on the career of Tommy Steele, was filmed in 1960 with Laurence Harvey as its star.
Mr. Mankowitz wrote screenplays for films as diverse as ''The Millionairess,'' based on the play by George Bernard Shaw and starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren; ''Casino Royale,'' a James Bond spoof with Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen, and ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire,'' a cautionary tale about nuclear war in which Mr. Mankowitz took a role.
He tried his hand at being a theater impresario, putting on Brecht's ''Threepenny Opera,'' among other things; wrote biographies of Charles Dickens (''Dickens of London'') and Edgar Allan Poe (''The Extraordinary Mr. Poe''), and produced three authoritative works on porcelain, including ''Wedgwood'' (1953), which was seen as the definitive handbook. So it was inevitable that Mr. Mankowitz would be accused of spreading himself too thin and would meet with critical failure as much as critical success.
His most notable flop came in 1961 with ''Belle,'' a rather unlikely musical comedy about the notorious wife murderer Dr. Crippen. The production, wrote the critic Bernard Levin, had ''the sad flatness of flat champagne,'' and demonstrated ''shatteringly offensive vulgarity''
Mr. Mankowitz was, to put it mildly, not pleased. When he and Mr. Levin both appeared on a television program after the collapse of ''Belle,'' he shouted: ''Levin, you parasite! You suck my blood!'' He later delivered a tiny coffin to Levin's offices at The Daily Express, saying that it was a ''midget coffin for a midget critic.''
Mr. Mankowitz fell on hard times in the 1980's, when he was declared bankrupt after the British Government fined him heavily for failure to pay back taxes.
''I don't believe that writers should be treated as special creatures,'' he said, ''but our financial problems are different and should be treated as such.'' He moved to a castle in Ireland, a country that has a more forgiving attitude toward authors and taxes, and lived there on and off until his death, taking time out to teach English and fine arts at the University of New Mexico.
Continuing to write novels throughout the 1980's, he published his last one, ''A Night With Casanova'' a five-section monologue featuring Casanova and the Wandering Jew and exploring the theme of mortality, in 1991.
Mr. Mankowitz is survived by his wife, Ann Margaret, and three of their four sons. Copyright 2015 The New York Times Company
Photo: (Larry C. Morris/The New York Times)
LONDON, May 27— Wolf Mankowitz, a writer of eclectic interests whose prolific output extended to novels, plays, television drama and films, died on May 20 in County Cork, Ireland, where he lived. He was 73.
When he retired from writing books in 1991, he disclosed that he had terminal cancer.
Although he wrote fiction and nonfiction, created original screenplays and adaptations, and became an authority on porcelain, Mr. Mankowitz's best and earliest work, including the novels ''A Kid for Two Farthings'' and ''Make Me an Offer,'' captured the culture, humor and linguistic vibrancy of the heavily Jewish East End, the neighborhood into which he was born in 1924 and named Cyril Wolf Mankowitz.
He was the son of a Russian emigrant, Solomon Mankowitz, who sold antiques and second-hand books in an open-air East End market and who imbued his son with a love of both. When Wolf won a scholarship to Cambridge, his father sold all his stock, raising some $150 so that he would have the money to go.
Although he would go on to set up his own antiques business, later opening a highly successful porcelain shop in Piccadilly -- ''There is something spiritual in search of material to sell,'' he once said -- Mr. Mankowitz was determined to make his living from writing. After graduating from Cambridge, where he studied English under F. R. Leavis, edited a literary magazine and made ends meet by working in a bookshop, he began to write in earnest, winning an award from the Society of Authors for his poetry.
Mr. Mankowitz's first novel, ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), based on his experiences in the porcelain trade, told the story of a Wedgwood dealer searching for a replica of the Portland Vase. Selling an astonishing 17,000 copies within weeks of its publication, it was made into a film, with dialogue by the author, and later became a successful West End musical.
Another big success, ''A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953), which told the story of a poor East End boy and a magical one-horned goat, was translated into a number of foreign languages and in 1955 was made into a film directed by Carol Reed. And the film version of ''The Bespoke Overcoat,'' his novel about a Jewish tailor and his love of his job, won an Academy Award in the short-subject category in 1956. Another musical, ''Expresso Bongo,'' a sendup of the pop-music industry based on the career of Tommy Steele, was filmed in 1960 with Laurence Harvey as its star.
Mr. Mankowitz wrote screenplays for films as diverse as ''The Millionairess,'' based on the play by George Bernard Shaw and starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren; ''Casino Royale,'' a James Bond spoof with Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen, and ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire,'' a cautionary tale about nuclear war in which Mr. Mankowitz took a role.
He tried his hand at being a theater impresario, putting on Brecht's ''Threepenny Opera,'' among other things; wrote biographies of Charles Dickens (''Dickens of London'') and Edgar Allan Poe (''The Extraordinary Mr. Poe''), and produced three authoritative works on porcelain, including ''Wedgwood'' (1953), which was seen as the definitive handbook. So it was inevitable that Mr. Mankowitz would be accused of spreading himself too thin and would meet with critical failure as much as critical success.
His most notable flop came in 1961 with ''Belle,'' a rather unlikely musical comedy about the notorious wife murderer Dr. Crippen. The production, wrote the critic Bernard Levin, had ''the sad flatness of flat champagne,'' and demonstrated ''shatteringly offensive vulgarity''
Mr. Mankowitz was, to put it mildly, not pleased. When he and Mr. Levin both appeared on a television program after the collapse of ''Belle,'' he shouted: ''Levin, you parasite! You suck my blood!'' He later delivered a tiny coffin to Levin's offices at The Daily Express, saying that it was a ''midget coffin for a midget critic.''
Mr. Mankowitz fell on hard times in the 1980's, when he was declared bankrupt after the British Government fined him heavily for failure to pay back taxes.
''I don't believe that writers should be treated as special creatures,'' he said, ''but our financial problems are different and should be treated as such.'' He moved to a castle in Ireland, a country that has a more forgiving attitude toward authors and taxes, and lived there on and off until his death, taking time out to teach English and fine arts at the University of New Mexico.
Continuing to write novels throughout the 1980's, he published his last one, ''A Night With Casanova'' a five-section monologue featuring Casanova and the Wandering Jew and exploring the theme of mortality, in 1991.
Mr. Mankowitz is survived by his wife, Ann Margaret, and three of their four sons. Copyright 2015 The New York Times Company