Budd Schulberg Biography

Budd Schulberg, the son of producer/publicist B.P. Schulberg, created a major uproar in 1941 Hollywood when he published his scathing, satirical exposé of the film industry, What Makes Sammy Run? Schulberg was 17 when Paramount hired him as a publicist; he became a screenwriter at age 19. In 1939, Paramount fired him after the film Winter Carnival, which Schulberg co-penned with a rapidly fading F. Scott Fitzgerald, bombed at the box office. Following the scandal of his book, Schulberg spent the war years working within John Ford's documentary unit. A decade later, when the country was caught up in the Cold War, Schulberg willingly testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and provided them with many names. He later recounted his experience in his screenplay for On the Waterfront (1954). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi