Wald, Malvin 1917-2008 (Malvin Daniel Wald)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 8, 1917, in New York (some sources cite Brooklyn), NY; died March 6, 2008, in Sherman Oaks, CA. Filmmaker, producer, educator, screen- writer, and television writer. Wald was known as a master of the "police procedural." His 1948 film The Naked City diverted attention away from the glamorous private eyes who had dominated Hollywood crime scenes and shined a spotlight on the hardworking police detectives whose dogged footwork, tenacity, and powers of deduction are most often the crime solvers of the real world. Wald did not dress them up: his films took place in the streets and alleys, where tired cops followed one lead after another until, finally, justice was done. Wald's film gave birth to an entire genre of films and television series, including the hit series The Naked City, and Wald was the creator or writer for many of them. He wrote dozens of screenplays through the 1970s, including Outrage (1951) and Al Capone (1959), which won the critics' award of the Locarno International Film Festival. He also wrote hundreds of television episodes for popular series such as Daktari (1966-68) and The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977-78), as well as stand-alone television movies and special presentations. Wald began his career as a writer for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. He was an executive producer for the television division at Twentieth Century-Fox studios and a writer-producer with Ivan Tors Films in the 1960s. Wald also taught cinema classes at the University of Southern California from 1949 to 1979. His story for The Naked City was nominated for an Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and his subsequent films were frequent entries at film festivals around the world.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2008, p. B11.

New York Times, March 11, 2008, p. A21.