Marshall Brickman, who wrote ‘Annie Hall’ with Woody Allen, dies at 85

Marshall Brickman Photo Credit: Mary Altafer

Marshall Brickman, Oscar-winning screenwriter whose extensive career includes some of Woody Allen’s finest films, Broadway musicals jersey boys, And many of Johnny Carson’s most beloved sketches are dead. He was 85 years old.

Brickman died Friday in Manhattan, his daughter Sophie Brickman said. the new York Times. No cause of death was given.

Brickman was known for his extensive collaboration with Allen, beginning with the 1973 film Sleeper. The two co-wrote annie hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), and manhattan murder mystery (1993). loosely structured script for Annie Hall, In particular, it has been considered one of the wittiest comedies. It won Brickman and Allen the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

In his acceptance speech (Allen skipped the ceremony), Brickman referenced one of the film’s oft-quoted lines: “I’ve been out here a week, and when I turn right at the red light “I still feel guilty.”

Brickman pointed out, “If the movie is worth anything.” Vanity Fair In 2017, “It gives a very specific image of what it was like to survive at that particular socio-economic level in New York at that time.”

Brickman and Allen met in the early 1960s, when Allen was emerging as a stand-up comedian. Brickman was brought in to write jokes for them. At the time, he was playing banjo for the folk group Tarrier. In one of many turning points in Brickman’s career, it was an album he and his college roommate Eric Weisberg recorded that later formed the soundtrack to 1972. Freedom, Including “Dueling Banjos”.

Brickman was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Jewish socialists Abram (who had fled Poland during World War II) and Pauline (Wolin) Brickman, who was from New York. They later moved to the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, where Brickman grew up. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with degrees in science and music, his start in show business came with the Terriers. He replaced Alan Arkin in the group.

Brickman told the Writers Guild in 2011, “One of the reasons I was asked to join was that they needed someone to be at the front of the group and talk while everyone was ready.” He.”

By the late ’60s, Brickman was Carson’s head writer. The Tonight Show. There, one of his most enduring contributions were the Carnac the Magnificent sketches, during which Carson played “a mystic of the East” who could give divine answers to unseen questions. Brickman’s other TV stints include candid Camera,dick cavitt show, And The Muppet Show.

When Brickman and Allen began writing together, they found a natural chemistry, with Brickman playing a supporting role in Allen’s semi-autobiographical material.

“We didn’t write scenes together. “I think this is the death of any collaboration,” Brickman told the Writers Guild. “I don’t think there’s really any such thing as equal collaboration. I believe that any collaboration should be dominated by one person, one personality, one vision.”

Brickman wrote and directed the 1980 film Simon, Starring Arkin as a psychology professor who is indoctrinated into believing he is from outer space. He also directed 1983 Lover, with Alec Guinness as the ghost of Sigmund Freud, and a 1986 manhattan project, About a high school student who builds a nuclear weapon for a school project.

Brickman wrote the Broadway musical, with Rick Ellis writing the music. jersey boys, About the 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. It ran on Broadway for 12 years, beginning in 2005. He and Ellis also wrote the music for the 2010 The Addams Family.

Brickman is survived by his wife Nina, daughters Sophie and Jessica, and five grandchildren.