| Abby Mann | |
| Birth Date: | December 1, 1927 |
| Birth Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Birth Name: | Abraham Goodman |
| Death Place: | Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Screenwriter, film producer |
| Children: | 3, including Aaron Cohen |
| Spouse: | Myra Maislin |
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.[1]
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2] [3]
He was best known for his work on controversial subjects and social drama. His best known work is the screenplay for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), which was initially a television drama that aired in 1959. Stanley Kramer directed the film adaptation, for which Mann received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In his acceptance speech, he said:
Mann later adapted the play for a 2001 production on Broadway, which featured Maximilian Schell from the 1961 film in a different role.[4] In the introduction to the printed script, Mann credited a conversation with Abraham Pomerantz, U.S. Chief Deputy Counsel, for giving him the initial interest in Nuremberg.[5] Mann and Kramer also collaborated on the films Ship of Fools and A Child Is Waiting.
While working for television, he created the series Kojak, starring Telly Savalas. Mann was executive producer, but was also credited as a writer on many episodes.[6] His other writing credits include the screenplays for the television films The Marcus-Nelson Murders, The Atlanta Child Murders,[7] ,[8] and ,[9] as well as the film War and Love.[10] He also directed the 1978 NBC TV miniseries King.[11] In 1974, he signed a deal with Columbia Pictures Television to develop long-form television projects.[12]
Mann was married to Myra Maislin. His wife had two children from a previous marriage, Adrienne Cohen Isom, and Aaron Cohen, a former Israeli Duvdevan Unit Special Forces operative.[13]
Mann died of heart failure in Beverly Hills, California on March 25, 2008, aged 80.[14] [15] He died one day after Richard Widmark, one of the stars of Judgment at Nuremberg. Mann is interred in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.[16]