Borsten, Orin 1912-2006

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born February 19, 1912, in Lithonia, GA; died November 18, 2006, in Studio City, CA. Publicist and author. A former Hollywood publicist, Borsten also wrote stage and screenplays, but was best known for coauthoring the Meta Carpenter Wilde memoir, A Loving Gentleman: The Love Story of William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter (1976). During the 1920s and 1930s, Borsten got his start as an actor. He continued this pursuit while also working as an editor for Southern Newspaper Enterprises from 1932 to 1938. From 1939 to 1942, Borsten learned about publicity as a publicity director for the Hollywood Beach Hotel in Florida. He worked briefly as an entertainment publicist for the Hy Gardner Office in New York City before World War II, then spent the next three years in the U.S. Army as a technical sergeant. Legendary Hollywood publicist Russell Birdwell hired him in 1944. His time with Birdwell was a high point in his career, for Borsten enjoyed Birdwell's penchant for organizing outrageous stunts to attract newspaper coverage of his clients. In what would now be considered a conflict of interest, Borsten next briefly worked with actor and newspaper columnist Erskine Johnson. A freelance publicist until 1957, Borsten made his final career move to become a playwright and screenwriter. He cowrote the movie Angel Baby (1960), as well as a number of plays and television scripts. Universal Studios employed him until he retired in 1976. That year he published A Loving Gentleman, the story of a former script girl who had a lingering love affair with William Faulkner.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2006, p. B12.