Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Like his brother Herman, Mankiewicz first made his mark in films as a scenarist, after a stint as a foreign correspondent in Berlin. In 1928 Mankiewicz secured a $60 per week writing contract at Paramount. He wrote intertitles and in 1931 co-wrote the script of the acclaimed boy-and-his-dog story SKIPPY. He began producing for MGM in 1936, overseeing such fine projects as Fritz Lang's FURY (1936), Frank Borzage's THREE COMRADES (1938), George Cukor's THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) and George Stevens's WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942). Louis B. Mayer allegedly told him he had to produce before he could direct, but in 1943, with no directorial assignments in sight, Mankiewicz switched over to Fox, co-writing and producing THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (1944). His directorial debut came in 1946, with the Gothic melodrama DRAGONWYCK, followed by his direction of three films written by Philip Dunne, including THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947). He returned to writing with the classic A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949), building a reputation as one of Hollywood's more literary directors. The staginess of some of Mankiewicz's films is more than compensated for by the urbanity and wit of his screenplays and his brilliant handling of actors; A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949), ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) and JULIUS CAESAR (1953) are all superb examples of his art. In 1951 he returned to New York and remained there for the rest of his life. Before the disaster of CLEOPATRA (1963), Mankiewicz would direct and write THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA (1954), THE QUIET AMERICAN (1958), an adaptation of Graham Greene's novel that was one of Mankiewicz's personal favorites, and SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959). Mankiewicz took over the direction of CLEOPATRA from Rouben Mamoulian; despite his attempts to salvage the film, it proved to be one of Hollywood's most expensive flops, reportedly costing a then-record sum of $40 million, and dealt a serious blow to his directing career. The final film he completed was the cross-and-doublecross murder yarn, SLEUTH (1972), which was produced independently. While failing to recapture the sublime effervescence of Mankiewicz's seminal and delightful work of the 1940s and 50s, it still succeeded as a sophisticated showpiece for stars Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier. Mankiewicz's son Tom is a screenwriter (SUPERMAN, 1978, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, 1974).  Nominated for Writing (Adaptation) 1930-31: SKIPPY (w. Sam Mintz)  Nominated for Best Picture 1940: THE PHILADELPHIA STORY - Producer at MGM  Directing 1949: A LETTER TO THREE WIVES  Writing (Screenplay) 1949: A LETTER TO THREE WIVES  Directing 1950: ALL ABOUT EVE  Writing (Screenplay) 1950: ALL ABOUT EVE  Nominated for Writing (Story & Screenplay) 1950: NO WAY OUT (w. Lesser Samuels)  Nominated for Directing 1952: FIVE FINGERS  Nominated for Writing (Story & Screenplay) 1954: THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA  Nominated for Directing 1972: SLEUTH 10 nominations, 4 Awards