Irving Ravetch

Irving Ravetch
Born
Irving Dover Ravetch

(1920-11-14)November 14, 1920
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedSeptember 19, 2010(2010-09-19) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other nameJames P. Bonner
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles
OccupationsScreenwriter, producer
Years active1947–1990
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1946)​

Irving Dover Ravetch (November 14, 1920 – September 19, 2010) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He frequently worked in collaboration with his wife Harriet Frank Jr. and with director Martin Ritt. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Hud (1963) and Norma Rae (1979).

Early life and education

Ravetch was born to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (Shapiro) and I. Shalom Ravetch, a rabbi. His mother was born in Palestine and his father in Ukraine. Ravetch was an aspiring playwright when he enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

Following graduation, he joined the young writer's training program at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he met Harriet Frank Jr., whom he married in 1946. He gained his first screen credit with Living in a Big Way which was released the following year.

For the next decade, Ravetch worked mostly on Westerns such as Vengeance Valley (1951). With Frank, he approached producer Jerry Wald and proposed they adapt the William Faulkner novel The Hamlet (1940) for the screen. The result was The Long, Hot Summer (1958), which primarily was an original story with one of Faulkner's characters at its center. When Wald greenlighted the film and asked Ravetch to choose a director, he suggested Martin Ritt, whom he knew from the Group Theatre and the Actors Studio in New York City. The Long, Hot Summer proved to be the first of eight projects – including The Sound and the Fury (1959), Hud (1963), Norma Rae (1979), Murphy's Romance (1985), and Stanley & Iris (1990) – written by Ravetch and Frank and directed by Ritt. Additional screenwriting credits include Home from the Hill (1960), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (also 1960), The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), and The Spikes Gang (1974).

Ravetch and Frank were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won both the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Hud. He was a recipient of the Bronze Wrangler for The Cowboys, the Screen Laurel Award, and additional Oscar, WGA, and Golden Globe nominations.

Personal life

Ravetch met Harriet Frank Jr. at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's young writer's training program, whom he married in 1946. The duo sometimes used the joint pen name 'James P. Bonner'.

Death

Ravetch died from pneumonia on September 19, 2010.

Filmography

Year Title Functioned as Director Notes
Writer Producer
1947 Living in a Big Way Yes No Gregory La Cava Co-written with La Cava
1950 The Outriders Yes No Roy Rowland
1951 Vengeance Valley Yes No Richard Thorpe
1953 The Lone Hand Story No George Sherman
1955 Ten Wanted Men Story No H. Bruce Humberstone Co-written with Harriet Frank Jr.
Run for Cover Story No Nicholas Ray
1958 The Long, Hot Summer Yes No Martin Ritt
1959 The Sound and the Fury Yes No
1960 Home from the Hill Yes No Vincente Minnelli
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs Yes No Delbert Mann
1963 Hud Yes Yes Martin Ritt
1967 Hombre Yes Yes
1968 House of Cards Yes No John Guillermin
1969 The Reivers Yes Yes Mark Rydell
1972 The Cowboys Yes No Co-written with Harriet Frank Jr. and Dale Jennings
The Carey Treatment Yes No Blake Edwards Co-written with Harriet Frank Jr.
1974 Conrack Yes Yes Martin Ritt
The Spikes Gang Yes Associate Richard Fleischer
1979 Norma Rae Yes No Martin Ritt
1985 Murphy's Romance Yes No
1990 Stanley & Iris Yes No

Awards and nominations

Award Year Category Work Result
Academy Award 1964 Best Adapted Screenplay Hud Nominated
1980 Norma Rae Nominated
Golden Globe Award 1980 Best Screenplay Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle Award 1963 Best Screenplay Hud Won
Western Heritage Award 1972 Theatrical Motion Picture The Cowboys Won
Writers Guild of America Award 1959 Best Written American Drama The Long, Hot Summer Nominated
1964 Hud Won
1970 Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium The Reivers Nominated
1975 Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Conrack Nominated
1980 Norma Rae Nominated
1988 Screen Laurel Award N/a Won

References

  1. 1 2 University of California Press: "Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.: Tapestry of Life" Interview by Pat McGilligan
  2. ↑ Irving Ravetch at FilmReference.com
  3. 1 2 3 Baer, William, Classic American Films: Conversations with the Screenwriters. Greenwood Publishing Group 2008. ISBN 0-313-34898-7, pp. 95–109
  4. ↑ Carlson, Michael (October 4, 2010). "Irving Ravetch obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Irving Ravetch, Screenwriter of 'Hud,' Dies at 89". The New York Times. September 21, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  6. ↑ "The 36th Academy Awards | 1964". www.oscars.org. October 5, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  7. ↑ "The 52nd Academy Awards | 1980". www.oscars.org. March 1, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Screen Laurel Award Previous Recipients". awards.wga.org. Retrieved September 29, 2026.