{{Short description|American writer}} {{Infobox writer | name = Louis Weitzenkorn | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|05|28}} | birth_place = [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|02|07|1893|05|28}} | death_place = Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S. | resting_place = | occupation = Writer | language = English | period = 1914–1938 | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| *[[Pennsylvania Military College]] *[[Columbia University]] }} | spouse = | notableworks = | awards = }} '''Louis Weitzenkorn''' (May 28, 1893 – February 7, 1943) was an American writer and newspaper editor.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=L. Weitzenkorn Perished in Fire |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 8, 1943 |page=21 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0CE2DC1E39E33BBC4053DFB4668388659EDE}}</ref> He wrote a play about journalism, ''[[Five Star Final (play)|Five Star Final]]'', that became a hit on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1931. It was adapted as a movie, and Weitzenkorn subsequently wrote several screenplays.
==Early life== Born in [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]] in May 1893, Weitzenkorn attended the [[Pennsylvania Military College]] in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]. In 1912 he received a journalism degree from [[Columbia University]].
==Career== In 1914 Weitzenkorn became a reporter for the ''[[New-York Tribune]]''. He subsequently wrote for ''[[The New York Times]]'' and the ''[[New York Call]]''. In 1924 he became features editor for the ''[[New York World]]''. In 1929 he took over as editor of the ''[[New York Evening Graphic]]'', a popular but scandalous [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] that was called the "porno-''Graphic''" by its critics.
While still working as a journalist, Weitzenkorn began writing fiction. In 1929, his play ''First Mortgage'' had a brief run on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at the [[Broadhurst Theatre]], but closed after just four performances.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=10952 |title=First Mortgage |publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] |accessdate=June 18, 2014}}</ref> His experience with journalism inspired him to write another play, ''Five Star Final''. [[A. H. Woods]] produced it at the [[Cort Theater]], where it opened on December 30, 1930. The play was a hit, running for six months with 175 performances.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=11300 |title=Five Star Final |publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] |accessdate=June 18, 2014}}</ref> He subsequently wrote a third play, called ''And the Sun Goes Down''.<ref name="NYT" />
''Five Star Final'' was adapted as a movie in 1931 starring [[Edward G. Robinson]] and [[Boris Karloff]]; the film was nominated for a [[Best Picture]] [[Academy Award]]. Weitzenkorn wrote several other screenplays, including ''[[24 Hours (1931 film)|24 Hours]]'' (1931), ''[[Men of Chance]]'' (1931) and ''[[The Devil Is Driving (1932 film)|The Devil is Driving]]'' (1932). His last screenplay was ''[[King of the Newsboys]]'', co-written with [[Peggy Thompson (American screenwriter)|Peggy Thompson]] in 1938, after which he became a reporter for the [[New York Post]].
==Personal life== Weitzenkorn was married five times.<ref>{{cite book |title=Joseph Conrad: Interviews and Recollections |first=Martin |last=Ray |publisher=University of Iowa Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60938-017-5 |page=201}}</ref>
On the morning of February 7, 1943, Weitzenkorn's clothes caught fire as he was making a pot of coffee. His wife found him burned to death in a chair next to the stove.<ref name="NYT" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IBDB name}} * {{IMDb name|0919380|Louis Weitzenkorn}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Weitzenkorn, Louis}} [[Category:1893 births]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Jewish American dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni]] [[Category:Deaths from fire in the United States]] [[Category:Writers from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Widener University alumni]] [[Category:Writers from New York City]] [[Category:20th-century American Jews]]