MONASH, Paul 1914-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born June 14, 1914, in New York, NY; died January 14, 2003, in Los Angeles, CA. Producer, director, screen-writer, and author. Monash produced some blockbuster films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Big Trouble in Little China, both as executive producer, and the cult favorite Carrie, he also wrote a handful of less-memorable screenplays in the 1950s, but his most prolific work favored the smaller screen of television. Monash began as a writer in the early days of the genre, contributing to series like Playhouse 90 and the Schlitz Playhouse of the Stars. He wrote pilots for successful series such as The Untouchables and Peyton Place, for which he also served as executive producer and director. Monash's writing credits for miniseries and television movies included All Quiet on the Western Front, Salem's Lot, an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, and George Wallace, the last which earned him and coauthor Marshall Frady a Humanitas Prize from the Human Family Educational and Cultural Institute. In his eighties, Monash wrote the television movie The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery. In 2000 the Writers Guild of America West honored him with the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for lifetime achievement. Monash was also the author of two novels, The Ambassadors and How Brave We Live, and was reportedly working on a third at the time of his death.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Chicago Tribune, January 16, 2003, section 1, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2003, obituary by Dennis McLellan, p. B12.

New York Times, January 16, 2003, p. A29.

Times (London, England), February 14, 2003.