Julius J. Epstein

The directors with whom screenwriter Julius J Epstein collaborated reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood notables. After working as a radio publicist and writing some one-act plays, he signed on with Warner Bros., receiving his first screenwriting credit for "Living on Velvet" (1934). Epstein would write four screenplays (the last one, 1941's "Honeymoon for Three," with his twin brother-writing partner Philip) for prolific director Lloyd Bacon, who had learned his trade at the elbow of Mack Sennett after years of playing the perfect foil to Charlie Chaplin. He also worked on five screenplays (three with his brother) for William Keighley, most notably "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1941), adapted from the George S Kaufman and Moss Hart play. However, the helmsman with whom he worked most often was Michael Curtiz. Epstein and his brother provided the structure and much of the wit for the Oscar-winning screenplay of Curtiz's masterpiece "Casablanca" (1943), as well as contributing to the director's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" the year before. He also received an Oscar nomination for his efforts on Curtiz's "Four Daughters" (1938).