Paddy Chayefsky

Writing

Paddy Chayefsky

Born — Died

1923-01-29 — 1981-08-01

Place of birth

The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

24 titles

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay for "Marty" (1955), "The Hospital" (1971), and "Network" (1976). He is the only person to have won both the Academy Awards for adapted and original screenplays. He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans.

Known for

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

The Dick Cavett Show poster
6.8

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

No artwork available
5.1

The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.

Film '72

1971

The Oscars poster
7.1

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.

The Oscars

1953

Network poster
7.8

When veteran anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to viewers that he will kill himself during his farewell broadcast. Network executives rethink their decision when his fanatical tirade results in a spike in ratings.

Network

1976

The David Susskind Show poster
7.0

The David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The program began its existence in 1958 as Open End, and was broadcast by WNTA-TV in New York City. The title referred to the fact that the program continued until Susskind or his guests were too tired to continue late on a Sunday night.

The David Susskind Show

1959

Film credits

Series credits

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

The Dick Cavett Show poster
6.8

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

No artwork available
5.1

The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.

Film '72

1971

The Oscars poster
7.1

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.

The Oscars

1953

The David Susskind Show poster
7.0

The David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The program began its existence in 1958 as Open End, and was broadcast by WNTA-TV in New York City. The title referred to the fact that the program continued until Susskind or his guests were too tired to continue late on a Sunday night.

The David Susskind Show

1959

Monitor poster
7.3

Monitor was a BBC arts programme that was launched on 2 February 1958 and ran until 1965. Huw Wheldon was the first editor from 1958 to 1965. He was also the principal interviewer and anchor. Wheldon set about moulding a team of talents, including John Schlesinger, Ken Russell, Patrick Garland, David Jones, Humphrey Burton, John Berger, Peter Newington, Melvyn Bragg, Nancy Thomas and Alan Tyrer. Monitor ranged in subject over all the arts. Wheldon's Monitor lasted until he had "interviewed everyone I am interested in interviewing", and he was succeeded by Jonathan Miller for the series' last season.

Monitor

1958

Behind the camera

Network poster
7.8

When veteran anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to viewers that he will kill himself during his farewell broadcast. Network executives rethink their decision when his fanatical tirade results in a spike in ratings.

Network

1976

Altered States poster
6.7

A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory, time, and reality itself are states of mind.

Altered States

1980

The Hospital poster
6.7

Dr. Bock, the chief of medicine at a Manhattan hospital, is suicidal after the collapse of his personal life. When an intern is found dead in a hospital bed, it appears to Bock to be a case of unforgivable malpractice. Hours later, another doctor, who happens to be responsible for another case of malpractice, is found dead. Despondent, Bock finds himself drawn to Barbara, the daughter of a comatose missionary.

The Hospital

1971

The Hospital poster
6.7

Dr. Bock, the chief of medicine at a Manhattan hospital, is suicidal after the collapse of his personal life. When an intern is found dead in a hospital bed, it appears to Bock to be a case of unforgivable malpractice. Hours later, another doctor, who happens to be responsible for another case of malpractice, is found dead. Despondent, Bock finds himself drawn to Barbara, the daughter of a comatose missionary.

The Hospital

1971

Marty poster
7.5

Marty, a butcher who lives in the Bronx with his mother, is unmarried at 34. Good-natured but socially awkward, he faces constant badgering from family and friends to get married but has reluctantly resigned himself to bachelorhood. He then meets Clara, an unattractive school teacher. Realising their emotional connection, Marty promises to call, but family and friends try to convince him not to.

Marty

1955

The Americanization of Emily poster
6.7

American sailor Charlie Madison falls for a pretty Englishwoman while trying to avoid a senseless and dangerous D-Day mission concocted by a deranged admiral.

The Americanization of Emily

1964

Middle of the Night poster
7.0

Jerry Kingsley is a wealthy garment manufacturer left lonely in his 50s when his wife dies. Despite the difference in their ages, he strikes up a romance with divorced 24-year-old receptionist Betty. The relationship is dismissed by his daughter, Lillian, discouraged by his sister, Evelyn, and denounced by Betty's mother. But when Jerry begins to mention marriage, even Betty is forced to confront her ambivalence.

Middle of the Night

1959

The Goddess poster
6.0

A woman adored by the people around her ultimately struggles to be happy with herself.

The Goddess

1958

The True Glory poster
6.5

A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen. It opens as the assembled allied forces plan and train for the D-Day invasion at bases in Great Britain and covers all the major events of the war in Europe from the Normandy landings to the fall of Berlin.

The True Glory

1945

The Mother poster
NR

Paddy Chayefsky's 1954 play set in the Bronx tells the story of a recently widowed 66-year-old woman who seeks a job after 40 years of being a homemaker.

The Mother

1994

No artwork available
NR

A young divorcée becomes involved with her widowed boss.

Middle of the Night

1954

The Bachelor Party poster
7.0

Five office friends meet up for a night on the town to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of one of them. As the night wears on and the drink starts to tell, they become more confidential in expressing their concerns and hopes.

The Bachelor Party

1957

No artwork available
NR

Five office friends meet up for a night on the town to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of one of them. As the night wears on and the drink starts to tell, they become more confidential in expressing their concerns and hopes.

The Bachelor Party

1953

Marty poster
8.0

Marty Pilletti is a 36-year-old butcher who lives with his mother, who is always asking him why he doesn't find a nice girl and get married. The truth is Marty is lonely and would like nothing better, but he has low self-esteem and admits to his mother that he's ugly and no one wants him. He's tired of going to the Saturday night dance with his buddies and then going home more depressed than he was when the evening started. But at one of those dances he meets Clara. They have a great deal in common but Marty will have to overcome peer pressure if he and Clara are to have a relationship.

Marty

1953

Ein Zug nach Manhattan poster
8.0

1952 in a suburb of New York: the pious Leon Sternberger is a cantor in a small Jewish community. One morning, he realizes that he has lost his faith in God. There is simply too much misery and injustice in this world. His friend Schames Rosen advises him to ask Rabbi Markus in Manhattan for advice. In the subway compartment, a young woman wants to take her own life because she cannot forget December 22, 1942 in Utrecht. That was the day her family was deported. On another train, he meets a man who also cannot forget December 22, 1942. The unusual events are connected in an exciting way and shed new light on the question of God's existence despite all the suffering.

Ein Zug nach Manhattan

1981