LIVING LEGENDS Saturday, Sept 27, 5-10pm - At the Writers Guild Theater, 135 S Doheny Dr, Beverly Hills Wine & Dessert reception 7-8pm, between the double feature. Following a screening of his classic movie PRETTY POISON, LORENZO SEMPLE JR. will be interviewed by Patrick Goldstein. & Following a screening of his classic movie DUEL, RICHARD MATHESON will be interviewed by George Eckstein.
PURCHASE TICKETS - CLICK HERE
About the films:
The black comedy Pretty Poison (1968) was directed by Noel Black and stars Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld. It was a favorite film of the legendary critic Pauline Kael, and won the NY Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film in 1968.
The eerily creepy cult classic Duel (1971) launched the career of its young director, Steven Spielberg. It stars Dennis Weaver in a red Plymouth sedan and a 1955 Peterbilt truck, whose driver we never see.
Bios:
Lorenzo Semple Jr. Lorenzo began his writing career long ago in the then-flourishing field of popular magazine short stories. He went on to write two plays produced on Broadway one of which was filmed as The Honeymoon Machine, starring Steve McQueen.
Hollywood and episodic television drama came next. Then came Batman. Lorenzo was living in Spain, trying to write another play, when ABC and William Dozier tapped him to develop and write a TV pilot based on the famed comic book. The television series, starring Adam West, was a legendary success, and Lorenzo never looked back.
He co-wrote or wrote a number of movies with leading roles played by many of the most luminous male stars of the era: Robert Redford (Three Days of the Condor); Paul Newman (The Drowning Pool); Warren Beatty (The Parallax View); Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman (Papillon); Sean Connery (Never Say Never Again). Along the way, Lorenzo also wrote a couple of cult-favorite films, Pretty Poison and Flash Gordon. His screenplay for the former received the New York Film Critics Award as the best of its year.
He is currently, at the age of 85, collaborating on an original romantic comedy for which he has considerable, if guarded, hope.
George Eckstein George Eckstein has enjoyed a long and illustrious career writing and producing for television. His episodic writing credits include The Fugitive, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, Dr. Kildare, The Invaders, The Lieutenant, Felony Squad and many others, while his longform credits include The Bad Seed, Murder with Mirrors, My Name Is Kate and many Perry Mason specials. He was producer or executive producer of eight television series (including The Fugitive, Banacek, Sunshine and Love, Sidney), three mini-series and twenty-four television movies, including Duel, which was directed by a young Steven Spielberg. He has been nominated for Emmy, Golden Globe and WGA Awards, and was recipient of the first Humanitas Award (as producer) for an episode of Sunshine. He is a member of the California State Bar, a former member of the WGA Board of Directors, and a former chairman and co-founder of The Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors.
