The elder brother of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, he was educated at Columbia and at the University of Berlin and, after WW I service in Europe, he remained in Paris as head of the American Red Cross News Service, then moved to Berlin and began his writing career as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Returning to the US, he became prominent in New York's cultural life as the assistant drama editor of The New York Times under George S. Kaufmann and as the first drama editor of The New Yorker. He went to Hollywood in 1926 to write a screen story for Lon Chaney and remained with Paramount for several years as a prolific title, dialogue, and script writer, for a while pursuing a parallel career as a drama critic for the Los Angeles Times. He later moved over to MGM. He wrote numerous screenplays and adaptations, alone and in collaboration, and was largely responsible for the Academy Award-winning screenplay of CITIZEN KANE (1941), which he wrote in collaboration with Orson Welles. In addition to his many screen credits, he collaborated without receiving credit and was an executive producer on such films as LAUGHTER (1930), MONKEY BUSINESS (1931), HORSE FEATHERS (1932), MILLION DOLLAR LEGS (1932), and DUCK SOUP (1933). But severe personal problems -- enormous gambling debts, a desperate drinking habit, and frequent spats with studio executives -- combined to undermine the remainder of his Hollywood career. His son, Don M. Mankiewicz (b. Jan. 20, 1922, Berlin), is a novelist (See How They Run, Trial, etc.) and an occasional screenwriter (I WANT TO LIVE!, etc.). Another son, syndicated columnist and radio and TV commentator Frank Mankiewicz, was press secretary to Robert F. Kennedy and political director of George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign.  Writing (Original Screenplay) 1941: CITIZEN KANE (w. Orson Welles)  Nominated for Writing (Screenplay) 1942: THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES 2 nominations, 1 Award