Howard Koch (screenwriter) facts for kids

Howard E. Koch (born December 12, 1901 – died August 17, 1995) was an American writer. He wrote plays and scripts for movies. In the 1950s, he was one of many people in Hollywood who were put on a "blacklist." This meant he was not allowed to work in the film industry for a while.

Howard Koch's Early Life and Education

Howard Koch was born in New York City. He grew up in Kingston, New York. He went to college at St. Stephen's College, which is now called Bard College. He graduated in 1922. Later, he studied law at Columbia Law School and finished in 1925.

Howard Koch's Writing Career

Howard Koch started his career as a lawyer. But he soon began writing plays. Some of his plays, like Great Scott (1929) and Give Us This Day (1933), were shown on Broadway.

Radio and the "War of the Worlds"

In the 1930s, Koch started writing for radio. He worked for the CBS Mercury Theater of the Air. One of his most famous radio scripts was The War of the Worlds (1938). This was a scary story about aliens invading Earth. It was presented like a real news report. Some listeners believed it was true and panicked! Koch later wrote a play about this event called Invasion from Mars. This play was made into a TV movie in 1975.

Hollywood Success and Challenges

In the 1940s, Howard Koch began writing for Hollywood movies. He wrote scripts for films like The Sea Hawk and The Letter.

His most famous movie was Casablanca (1942). He wrote the script with Julius and Philip Epstein. This movie is still very popular today. For his work on Casablanca, Koch won an Academy Award in 1943. He also wrote Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), which was his favorite script.

The Hollywood Blacklist

In 1943, Koch wrote a movie called Mission to Moscow. This film showed the Soviet Union in a positive way. After World War II, the political mood in the US changed. Koch was accused of having "leftist" political views. He was questioned by a group called the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

In 1951, Howard Koch was put on the Hollywood blacklist. This meant that Hollywood studios would not hire him. Many writers, directors, and actors were blacklisted during this time.

Life After the Blacklist

After being blacklisted, Howard Koch and his family moved to Europe. They lived in the United Kingdom for five years. During this time, he continued to write. He used different names, like "Peter Howard" and "Anne Rodney," so his work could be published. He wrote for British TV shows, including The Adventures of Robin Hood.

In 1956, Koch returned to the United States. He settled in Woodstock, New York. He worked with a lawyer to get his name removed from the blacklist. Once he was off the list, he could use his own name again. He kept writing plays and books. He also worked for causes that promoted fairness and progress in society. His last Hollywood movie script was for The Fox in 1968.

Later Life and Death

Howard Koch passed away in 1995 at the age of 93. He died in Kingston, New York.

Howard Koch's Works

Plays

• Invasion from Mars, (with Orson Welles) (pl) CBS, October 30, 1938.

Books

• Invasion from Mars, ed. Orson Welles, Dell 1949.
• The Panic Broadcast, Little, Brown and Company 1970.
• Casablanca: Script and Legend, Overlook Press 1973.
• As Time Goes By: Memoirs of a Writer, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1979.

Short stories

• "Invasion from Inner Space", in Star Science Fiction Stories #6, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine 1959.

Anthologies

• Invaders of Earth, ed. Groff Conklin, Vanguard 1952.
• The Treasury of Science Fiction Classics, ed. Harold W. Kuebler, Hanover House 1954.
• The Armchair Science Reader, ed. Isabel S. Gordon & Sophie Sorkin, Simon & Schuster 1959.
• Enemies in Space, ed. Groff Conklin, Digit 1962.