Paddy Chayefsky

Though he doesn't strictly fall into the category of 'author', satirist Paddy Chayefsky's original screenplays and adaptations saw him successfully transition from television in the 1950s, to Hollywood. A three-time Oscar winner (for 'Marty', 'The Hospital' and 'Network'), the Bronx-born Jew of Russian heritage earned his 'Irish' nickname during his service in the Second World War, after putting on a thick brogue to announce he couldn't eat meat on Fridays, when faced with pork, forbidden of course because of his Jewish religion. He wrote for the stage, screen and indeed did write a novel, later made into the film 'Altered States' by Ken Russell. After falling out with the director, Chayefsky's credit was under his birth name of Sidney Aaron Chayefsky. He died at just 58 years of age, from cancer. "Artists don't talk about art. Artists talk about work. If I have anything to say to young writers, it's stop thinking of writing as art. Think of it as work." - Paddy Chayefsky