Daniel Fuchs

Daniel Fuchs was a novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Fuchs drew upon his own experiences when writing about Jewish ghetto life. He first combined fiction writing with teaching in the New York public school system during the 1930s. Fuchs' first two novels, Summer in Williamsburg (1934) and Homage to Blenholt (1936), are set in the Jewish slum of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, while his third novel, Low Company (1937), is set in Neptune Beach, a community modeled upon Brooklyn's Brighton Beach. The novels were a commercial failure and only received widespread critical acclaim when reprinted in 1961 as The Williamsburg Trilogy. During the 1930s, Fuchs also wrote short stories, which were published in the New Yorker and other magazines. Like many other New York writers, Fuchs went to Hollywood around 1940. He achieved success as a screenwriter, earning an Academy Award for Love Me Or Leave Me (1955), starring Doris Day and James Cagney. As recently as 1995, Fuchs received posthumous credit, along with producer Steven Soderbergh, for writing The Underneath, a remake of his film noir classic, Criss Cross (1949).

Education and Training
City College (now City University of New York), B.A. Philosophy, New York, New York, 1930

Teachers and Influences
Worked with William Faulkner in Hollywood

Connection to Bucks County
During the 1930s and possibly the early 1940s, Daniel Fuchs lived in Erwinna, although the exact dates of his residence are uncertain. He may have spent summers there.

From 1939 to 1942 he stayed at Joseph Schrank's farm. Fuchs had fond memories of Erwinna, praising its beauty and the friendships he enjoyed there.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Nathanael West, Joseph Schrank and Josephine Herbert

The Fuchs would stay at Joseph Schrank's farmhouse in Erwinna during the summer.

Novels and Short Stories
Summer In Williamsburg, 1934
Homage to Benholt, 1936
Low Company, 1937
Three Novels: Summer In Williamsburg, Homage to Blenholt, and Low Company, 1961, published as The Williamsburg Trilogy
West of the Rockies, 1971
The Apathetic Bookie Joint, 1979
Contributed short stories to the New Yorker, 1925-1940, 1940-1950, 1950-1960
Dream City (or The Drugged Lake), 1937
A Hollywood Diary, 1938

Publications
Contributed short stories and articles to magazines including:
Sports Illustrated, New Yorker, Esquire, Cinema Arts, Collier's, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Commentary, Saturday Evening Post, and New Republic.

Screenplays
The Day The Bookies Wept, 1939
The Big Shot, starring Humphrey Bogart, 1942
The Hard Way, with Peter Viertel, 1942
Between Two Worlds, 1944
The Gangster, 1947
Hollow Triumph, 1948
Criss Cross, starring Tony Curtis in his screen debut, 1949
Panic in the Streets, 1950
Storm Warning, with Richard Brooks, starring Ronald Reagan, Ginger Rogers and Doris Day, 1951
Taxi, with D.M. Marshman, 1952
The Human Jungle, with William Sachem, 1954
Love Me or Leave Me, with Isobel Lennart, 1955
Interlude, with Franklin Coen, 1957
Jeanne Eagles, with Sonya Levien and John Fante, 1957

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Elementary teacher at New York public schools, 1930-1937
Military Service: U.S. Navy

Major Awards
Academy Award, for Best Original Story, Love Me or Leave Me, 1956
National Institute of Arts and Letters Grant, 1962
National Jewish Book Award, 1980