Leo Katcher
Encyclopedia
Leo Katcher was an American reporter, screenwriter, and author. In 1956, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story
for The Eddy Duchin Story
, but he did not win.
Katcher was born in Bayonne, New Jersey
in 1911. He attended the University of Pennsylvania
and New York University
. He was hired by the New York Post
and became City Editor of the Post in the 1930's.
After World War II
, he moved to the West Coast and became the Posts West Coast correspondent. In that capacity, he helped break the story that 1952 Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon
had a private fund which reimbursed him for political expenses, a crisis which culminated in the Checkers speech
. Katcher had close ties to Chief Justice and former California governor Earl Warren
, and wrote a biography of the jurist.
In addition to the Warren book, Katcher wrote several other books and screenplays. He died in Oceanside, California
on February 27, 1991.
, who was executed for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby
.
's successful 1960 presidential campaign against Nixon.
Katcher's books included, The Big Bankroll: The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein
, about the mobster/gambler, which was adapted into a movie, King of the Roaring Twenties (1961). He used his connections with Chief Justice Warren to write a respectful biography of Warren, Earl Warren: A Political Biography. He wrote several screenplays, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story in 1956 for The Eddy Duchin Story but did not win.
In his final years, he served as a political columnist for the Oceanside Blade Citizen and Oceanside Breeze. He died of a heart attack in Oceanside on February 27, 1991.
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
for The Eddy Duchin Story
The Eddy Duchin Story
The Eddy Duchin Story is a 1956 biopic of band leader and pianist Eddy Duchin. It was directed by George Sidney-helmed film, written by Samuel A. Taylor, and starred Tyrone Power and Kim Novak. The musical soundtrack recording, imitating Duchin's style, was performed by pianist Carmen Cavallaro....
, but he did not win.
Katcher was born in Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
in 1911. He attended the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He was hired by the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
and became City Editor of the Post in the 1930's.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he moved to the West Coast and became the Posts West Coast correspondent. In that capacity, he helped break the story that 1952 Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
had a private fund which reimbursed him for political expenses, a crisis which culminated in the Checkers speech
Checkers speech
The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made by Richard Nixon, the Republican vice presidential candidate and junior United States Senator from California, on television and radio on September 23, 1952. Senator Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his...
. Katcher had close ties to Chief Justice and former California governor Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
, and wrote a biography of the jurist.
In addition to the Warren book, Katcher wrote several other books and screenplays. He died in Oceanside, California
Oceanside, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
on February 27, 1991.
Early life and career
Katcher was born in Bayonne in 1911; he had two younger sisters and two younger brothers. He received his first newspaper job from the Bayonne Evening News at the age of ten; he was hired as an office boy in exchange for his promise to stop hitting handballs off the side of the paper's offices. After being educated at Pennsylvania and NYU, and working for the Philadelphia Ledger and Philadelphia Record, he went to work for the Post, rising to the position of city editor. While working for the Post, he obtained an exclusive jailhouse interview with Bruno HauptmannBruno Hauptmann
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was a German ex-convict sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century".-Background:Hauptmann was born in Kamenz in the German Empire,...
, who was executed for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
.
Later life and career
In the 1940's, Katcher moved to California, becoming the Posts West Coast correspondent. He helped break the story of Richard Nixon's fund to reimburse him for his political expenses. The Post ran the story under the headline "Secret Rich Men's Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Means", causing Senator Nixon to tell Katcher's brother Edward, also a reporter, that Leo Katcher was "a son of a bitch". Nixon successfully defused the Fund crisis with his Checkers speech. Katcher would go on to work for John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's successful 1960 presidential campaign against Nixon.
Katcher's books included, The Big Bankroll: The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
, about the mobster/gambler, which was adapted into a movie, King of the Roaring Twenties (1961). He used his connections with Chief Justice Warren to write a respectful biography of Warren, Earl Warren: A Political Biography. He wrote several screenplays, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story in 1956 for The Eddy Duchin Story but did not win.
In his final years, he served as a political columnist for the Oceanside Blade Citizen and Oceanside Breeze. He died of a heart attack in Oceanside on February 27, 1991.