Screenwriter Millard Kaufman died 14 March 2009 of heart failure, two days after his 92nd birthday. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he was nominated for Academy Awards for best screenplay in 1956 (Bad Day at Black Rock) and 1954 (Take the High Ground!).
Kaufman served in the Marines during World War II, and then worked in newspapers before making his screenwriting debut with Ragtime Bear, a 1949 cartoon short which introduced the near-sighted Mr. Magoo (voice by Jim Backus). The Los Angeles Times quotes a 2007 NPR interview with Kaufman in which he said the character of Mr. Magoo was based on his uncle. “My uncle had no problem with his eye; he simply interpreted everything that came across his way in his own particular manner, and he could at times be a little bit difficult, but he would only see things the way they existed highly subjectively to him.”
He wasn’t a very prolific screenwriter, but two of his works were genre films: Unknown World (1951) and Aladdin and His Lamp (1952). His first novel, Bowl of Cherries, was published in 2007, and his second, Misadventure, is due out later this year. He also wrote a book on screenwriting, Plots and Characters: A Screenwriter on Screenwriting (1999).
Kaufman received a BA in English from Johns Hopkins University in 1939, and worked for the New York Daily News and Newsday, before joining the Marine Corps in 1942. He saw action on Guadalcanal, Guam, and Okinawa. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Lorraine; his daughters, Mary Carde and Amy Burk; and seven grandchildren.