Born in Duluth, Minnesota. Started his professional career as assistant stage director at London's Old Vic. After returning to the US, he wrote several plays, none of which was successful. Set out for Hollywood in 1930 as a contract screenwriter for Paramount, and in 1934 he moved over to Columbia. It was here that he contributed some of his best script work, alone or in collaboration, notably for such sophisticated comedies as THEODORA GOES WILD (1936), MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939), HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941), and THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942). A favorite writer of Columbia's boss Harry Cohn, Buchman also produced a number of the studio's films. In 1942, Buchman began supervising Columbia's production and later moved up to the position of vice president and assistant production chief. But everything changed for him in 1951, when he admitted former membership in the Communist party to the House Un-American Activities Committee. When he refused to name names, he was found guilty of contempt of Congress, fined $150, and given a year's suspended sentence. Blacklisting followed, and he was unable to find work in films until the early 60s, when he was hired by 20th Century-Fox as writer and producer in Europe. He resided in Cannes, France, in the last decade of his life.  Nominated for Writing (Screenplay) 1939: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON  Writing (Screenplay) 1941: HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (w. Seton I. Miller)  Nominated for Writing (Screenplay) 1942: THE TALK OF THE TOWN (w. Irwin Shaw)  Nominated for Writing (Story and Screenplay) 1949: JOLSON SINGS AGAIN 4 nominations, 1 Award