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Paddy Chayefsky

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Screenwriter

The Resume

    (January 29, 1923-August 1, 1981)
    Born in The Bronx, New York
    Birth name was Sidney Aaron Chayefski
    Won Oscars for the screenplays for ‘Marty’ (1955), ‘The Hospital’ (1971) and ‘Network’ (1976)
    Wrote the stage plays ‘No T.O. for Love’ (1945), ‘Middle of the Night’ (1956), ‘The Tenth Man’ (1959) and ‘Gideon’ (1961)

Why he might be annoying:

    He competed with Arthur Miller for the attentions of Marilyn Monroe and lost out.
    His last Broadway play, ‘The Passion of Josef D,’ ran for only 15 performances.
    His last screenplay, ‘Altered States’ (1980), was written under a pseudonym after he quarreled with director Ken Russell.
    As a presenter at the 50th Oscars (1977), he became so incensed about Vanessa Redgrave's pro-Palestinian comments that he lectured her, then started opening the envelope, stopping only when shouts from the audience alerted him that he had forgotten to read the names of the nominees.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He received a Purple Heart during World War II.
    He is one of four people to have received three writing Oscars and the only one to have done it without any collaborators.
    When his screenplay for 'Network' was called 'outrageous,' he replied, 'I still write realistic stuff. It's the world that's turned into a satire.'
    When Peter Finch received a posthumous Academy Award nomination, Oscar show producer William Friedkin decided he did not want a hysterical widow at the podium and assigned Chayefsky to accept if Finch won. After Finch did win, Chayefsky declared, 'There's only one person who should be up here,' and invited Finch's wife Eletha to the stage.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 22 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 30 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 30 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 71 Votes: 43.66% Annoying