Biography
Bronx native Irving Brecher was only 25 years old when he became the only screenwriter to ever enjoy sole credit on a Marx Brothes film, with 1939's
At the Circus. He penned another script for the brothers the following year with
Go West, and continued to work as a screenwriter for MGM throughout the 40's, while the studio-system was at its peak and the golden age of Hollywood was in full swing. Brecher wrote and co-wrote such titles as
Shadow of the Thin Man and Meet Me in St. Louis during this time - the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination - but even when he slowed down in the 50's and early 60's, the veteran writer with the biting wit continued to create top-tier material, writing
Somebody Loves Me in 1952, and the iconic pilot for The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in 1959. For his last script, Brecher adapted the satiristic musical
Bye Bye Birdie for the screen in 1963. He then retired from showbusiness, eventually writing a memoir detailing his experiences in Hollywood, including his encounters with
Milton Berle,
Judy Garland, and
Fred Astaire. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide