Samuel A. Taylor
Encyclopedia
Samuel A. Taylor was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

.

Born Samuel Albert Tanenbaum, in a Jewish family, in Chicago, Illinois, Taylor made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 debut as author of the play The Happy Time in 1950. He wrote the play Sabrina Fair
Sabrina Fair
Sabrina Fair is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November 11, 1953. Directed by H. C...

in 1953 and co-wrote its film adaptation
Sabrina (1954 film)
Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair...

 the following year. In 1955, he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 for the screenplay. His early success brought him more work in Hollywood, including the 1956 biographical film 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....

and the Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

 classic Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...

in 1958.

His film career faded after the initial box office failure of Vertigo, though Hitchcock and Taylor remained frequent collaborators. Taylor wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's 1969
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...

 film Topaz
Topaz (1969 film)
Topaz is a 1969 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a Cold War and spy story, adapted from the book of the same name by Leon Uris and closely based on the 1962 Sapphire Affair involving French SDECE spy Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli who "ha[d] played a considerable part in helping...

. He was often contracted to write drafts for Hitchcock's other films, such as Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...

, though Topaz was the only Taylor-penned screenplay to be produced after Vertigo.

Taylor was nominated for his only Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 in 1962 as co-producer of the play No Strings
No Strings
No Strings is a musical drama with a book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers, his only Broadway score written without a collaborator. The musical opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 580 performances...

, for which he also wrote the book. Other playwrighting credits include Avanti!
Avanti!
Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L...

(1968) and Legend
Legend (play)
Legend is a play by Samuel A. Taylor. The Broadway production was directed by Robert Drivas and starred Elizabeth Ashley, F. Murray Abraham, and George Dzundza...

(1976).

Taylor died of heart failure in Blue Hill, Maine
Blue Hill, Maine
Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,390 at the 2000 census. It is home to Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the now-closed Liberty School, New Surry Theatre, Kneisel Hall, Bagaduce Music Lending Library, the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club...

. His credits are sometimes confused with those of novelist and screenwriter Samuel W. Taylor
Samuel W. Taylor
Samuel Woolley Taylor was an American novelist, scriptwriter and historian.- Biography :Taylor was born in Provo, Utah to Janet "Nettie" Maria Woolley and John W. Taylor, the son of John Taylor, the late president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

.

Broadway credits

  • Nina (1951)
  • Sabrina Fair
    Sabrina Fair
    Sabrina Fair is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November 11, 1953. Directed by H. C...

    (1953)
  • The Pleasure of His Company
    The Pleasure of His Company
    The Pleasure of His Company is a comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds, released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.-Plot:...

    (1958)
  • First Love (1961)
  • No Strings
    No Strings
    No Strings is a musical drama with a book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers, his only Broadway score written without a collaborator. The musical opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 580 performances...

    (1962)
  • Beekman Place (1964)
  • Avanti!
    Avanti!
    Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L...

    (1968)
  • Legend
    Legend (play)
    Legend is a play by Samuel A. Taylor. The Broadway production was directed by Robert Drivas and starred Elizabeth Ashley, F. Murray Abraham, and George Dzundza...

    (1976)

Additional screenwriting credits

  • Sabrina
    Sabrina (1954 film)
    Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair...

    (1954)
  • 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....

    (1956)
  • Vertigo
    Vertigo (film)
    Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...

    (1958)
  • Goodbye Again
    Goodbye Again (1961 film)
    Goodbye Again, also known as Aimez-vous Brahms?, is a 1961 Franco-American romantic drama film directed by Anatole Litvak It was produced and from a screenplay by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel Aimez-Vous Brahms? by Françoise Sagan. The music score was by Georges Auric with additional music...

    (1961)
  • The Love Machine
    The Love Machine (film)
    The Love Machine is a 1971 film adaptation of the Jacqueline Susann novel The Love Machine. Written by Samuel A. Taylor and directed by Jack Haley, Jr., it starred John Phillip Law, Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, Jackie Cooper, and David Hemmings.-Plot:...

    (1971)
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