His dissertation, a study of Depression-era Hollywood films, was published in 1971 by NYU Press under the title We're in the Money: Depression America and Its Films. He also wrote James Cagney: The Pictorial Treasury of Film Stars.[2]
Career
Screenwriting
Bergman broke into the film industry by writing the original screenplay (titled Tex X) that served as the basis for Mel Brooks's classic Blazing Saddles (1974), and was among the writers who adapted it into its final state. He was later the sole creator of the TV sitcom pilot adaptation called "Black Bart" starring Louis Gossett Jr. for CBS which aired only once on April 4, 1975. The production was only a contractual requirement by Warner Bros. in order to maintain movie rights to produce future sequels. Mel Brooks did not have any involvement.
He wrote a gangster film Rhapsody in Crime that was never made. Warner Bros approached him to write a sequel to Freebie and the Bean with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. Instead, Bergman came up with The In-Laws (1979).[3]
Director
The In-Laws was a success, so Bergman could direct his next script, So Fine (1981) starring Ryan O'Neal. It was a box office disappointment.
Bergman wrote Oh, God! You Devil (1984) and Fletch (1985) starring Chevy Chase. The latter was a big hit. Less successful was Big Trouble (1986), the final film to be directed by John Cassavetes. In 1987, The Lobell/Bergman Company, which was a joint venture with producer Michael Lobell, had signed a first-look deal at Universal Pictures to handle film production of various movies.[4]
New York magazine in 1985 dubbed him "The Unknown King of Comedy."[5][6]
He wrote the initial draft for The Scout (1994), although he says the resulting film is different from his version. The film gives writing credit to Roger Angell, Bergman, Monica Johnson and star Albert Brooks.
He has written four novels: The Big Kiss-Off of 1944, Hollywood and LeVine, Tender Is LeVine, and Sleepless Nights. The first three are hard-boiled noir detective stories about a Jewish private eye called Jack LeVine (originally Jacob Levine) in 1940s New York.[7] The fourth is a psychological study of a Jewish family. He also wrote the Broadway comedy, Social Security, and Working Title.[6] The Andrew Bergman History Writing Prize is awarded by the University of Wisconsin.[8]
In 2013, Bergman would go on to adapt his movie and write the book for the Honeymoon in Vegas Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown.
Awards
In 2007, Bergman received the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing from the Writers Guild of America.[9]
^Geherin, David (1982). Sons of Sam Spade: The Private Eye Novel in the 70s. Robert B. Parker, Roger L. Simon, Andrew Bergman. Frederick Ungar Publishing.
Steve Baker, Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda, Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy, Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo, Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro, Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark – Movie 43 (2013)
