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Like Billy Wilder, Shavelson was one of the rare directors of the studio system era who personally scripted a majority of his films.  The Academy awarded Shavelson with an Oscar nomination for scripting 1955's The Seven Little Foys (a Bob Hope vehicle), and another in 1958 for writing Houseboat (starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren). Shavelson also directed both movies.  Shavelson's most famous effort with contemporary cinemagoers is 1968's Yours, Mine, and Ours, which was remade in 2005.

He oversaw WGA West as president on three occasions (1969-71, 1979-1981, 1985-1987), which bestowed him numerous WGA  awards: the Morgan Cox Award in 1998, the Laurel Award for screenwriting in 1984, and five WGA Award nominations throughout his five-decade career. 

"He was part of a vanishing breed of writers who came up in the pioneer days," said M*A*S*H magnate Larry Gelbart. "There was never an occasion that came up where he didn't have four or five pages (of comedy material) prepared. He was always up for anything -- any assignment, anything to do with the guild. He was not so much a 'can-do' guy as a 'can-and-did' guy."

Shavelson was also known for his minor spats with actors he directed.  He recounted in an essay that Kirk Douglas, who starred in 1966's Cast a Giant Shadow, wrote a memo to Shavelson that read: "Mel, I think it was a good picture. It could have been better if I had paid more attention to you."

And Lucille Ball -- whom Shavelson directed in Yours, Mine, and Ours, about two parents raising 18 children -- inquired how he liked directing her.  His reply: "Lucy, this is the first time I ever made a film with 19 children."

In recent years, Shavelson turned to cinematic philanthropy, establishing a film scholarship at his alma mater of Cornel University, and contributing funds to the Shavelson-Webb Writers Guild Foundation Library.  On his 90^th birthday, April 1, Shavelson published his autobiography, How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying, P.S. -- You Can't!  He wrote five other books in his lifetime, two fiction and three nonfiction.

Shavelson is survived by his wife, son, daughter, and three grandchildren.

Source: Variety, AP