'Casablanca' Screenwriter Dies

L O S  A N G E L E S, Jan. 1 -- Julius J. Epstein, a prolific Hollywoodwriter whose reworking of a little-known stage play earned him andhis co-writers the 1943 Academy Award for Casablanca, has died.He was 91.

Epstein died Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,hospital spokeswoman Grace Cheng said Sunday. Epstein worked on more than 50 films over five decades, said hisnephew, Leslie Epstein of Boston. “He was one of the great wits of the last century,” he said.“When it comes to writers, Julius was the gold standard.” Epstein was born Aug. 22, 1909, in New York City and teamed withhis twin brother, Philip, on numerous scripts for movie comediesand melodramas, which were often adapted from stage shows.

Everybody Comes to Rick’s

Casablanca, which won the brothers the 1943 Academy Awardfor Best Screenplay, had its origins in an unproduced play calledEverybody Comes to Rick’s.

A handful of writers actually worked on the script, but theEpstein brothers and writer Howard Koch have been recognized as thescreenplay’s main authors and all three won screenwriting Oscars.The film also won awards for best picture and best director. Over the years, the enduring popularity of Casablancasurprised Epstein, who repeatedly said he viewed it as just anothermovie in the vast Warner Bros. assembly line of the early 1940s. Hesaid the death of Humphrey Bogart in 1955 propelled the film intocult status.

Continued Writing After Brother’s DeathAfter his brother’s death in 1952, Epstein continued his soloscreenwriting career. He received Academy Awards nominations in1972 for Pete ’n’ Tillie and in 1983 for his adaptation of thenovel Reuben, Reuben. He also received a nomination in 1938 forco-writing Four Daughters with Lenore Coffee. “Julie’s more than a writer of good dialogue,” said Fay Kanin,past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,in a 1984 New York Times interview. “He’s a good constructionist.His stories have good bones.”