Ben Barzman

Ben Barzman

writer, additional crew

Ben Barzman was born on Oct 12, 1910 in Canada. Ben Barzman's big-screen debut came with You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith directed by Felix E. Feist in 1943. Ben Barzman is known for Z directed by Costa-Gavras, Yves Montand stars as Z and Irene Papas as Hélène. The upcoming new movie Ben Barzman plays is Normande which will be released on Oct 30, 1975.

Ben Barzman was an Anglo-Canadian best known as a screenwriter who was blacklisted during the post-World War II "Red scare" in Hollywood. Born on October 12, 1910, in Toronto, he moved to the United States, where he established himself as a screenwriter during the war. He is probably best known for Le garçon aux cheveux verts (1948), his adaptation of Betzi Beaton's novel that was an allegory against intolerance that bears witness to post-war American attitude that demanded conformity. The movie was directed by Joseph Losey, who also would be blacklisted and with whom Barzman would work in the future.In Hollywood Ben and his wife Norma Barzman became members of the Communist Party and remained so in exile. After Barzman traveled to England in 1949 to work on a movie, he decided to stay in Europe, and he and Norma moved to Paris, where they had the freedom to associate with Communists, left-wingers and anyone else they wanted to. However, Ben grew to dislike the milieu, and moved the family to the south of France in the 1950s. They broke with the Party after the student riots of 1968 due to the French Communist Party's failure to support a general strike called by labor unions in solidarity with the students.Norma Barzman claims that Ben rewrote the screenplay of the Oscar-winning Z (1969) for director Costa-Gavras, but did not receive credit. He also helped arrange for the filming of the movie in Algeria. In addition to his screen work, Barzman wrote the science-fiction novel "Out of This World" in 1960.He died on December 15, 1989, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 79.

  • Birthday

    Oct 12, 1910
  • Place of Birth

    Toronto, Ontario, Canada