Paddy Chayefsky(1923-1981)

Writer
Actor
Producer

Producer/star Charlize Theron explains the dark humor of 'Bombshell' with co-star Margot Robbie. Director Jay Roach and writer Charles Randloph break down the film's roots in Milos Forman, 'Network', and the Czech New Wave.

Play clip2:45

How Gallows Humor Helped Charlize Theron Make 'Bombshell' Feel Real

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky was an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. And is most known today for writing the screenplays for The Americanization of Emily, Marty, The Hospital, and Network. He lived in New York.

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Won 3 Oscars
- 15 wins & 6 nominations total

Photos4

Known for

Marty

7.6

Writer

1955

Network

8.1

Writer

1976

The Hospital

7.1

Writer

1971

Altered States

6.9

Writer(as Sidney Aaron)

1980

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer

Welcome to the Basement
8.1
TV Series
- screenplay
- story
- novel (as Sidney Aaron) ...
- 2012–2016
History Rediscovered: The True Glory
4.2
- Writer
- 2012
Performance
6.4
TV Series
- writer
- 1994
Matka
TV Movie
- teleplay
- 1982
Ein Zug nach Manhattan
7.0
TV Movie
- story "Holiday Song"
- 1981
Altered States
6.9
- written for the screen by
- novel (as Sidney Aaron)
- 1980
Die Mutter
- novel
- 1978
Network
8.1
- by
- 1976
Your Place or Mine?
TV Movie
- teleplay
- story
- 1976
A nagy üzlet
TV Movie
- Writer
- 1974
The Way We Were
7.0
- Writer (uncredited)
- 1973
O Grande Negócio
TV Movie
- play
- 1973
The Hospital
7.1
- written by
- 1971
La madre
TV Movie
- play
- 1971
Il grosso affare
TV Movie
- story
- 1971

Actor

Producer

Videos1

Clip 2:45

How Gallows Humor Helped Charlize Theron Make 'Bombshell' Feel Real

Personal details

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Alternative names
- Sidney Aaron
Born
- January 29, 1923
- The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Died
- August 1, 1981
- New York City, New York, USA(cancer)
Spouse
- Susan Sackler1949 - August 1, 1981 (his death, 1 child)
Other works
Unsold pilot: In 1974 he co-wrote the teleplay for a pilot for NBC called "What Do You Feel Like Doing Tonight." It starred James Coco as a parent forced to live alone in New York City without his two children.
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Did you know

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Trivia
Sidney Aaron Chayefsky received his more familiar nickname of Paddy while in the army during World War II. One Friday night, pork was being served in the mess hall. Rather than eat food forbidden him as an orthodox Jew, he said, in a put-on Irish brogue, that he was forbidden from eating meat on a Friday. His fellow soldiers, amused by this, started calling him Paddy, and the nickname stuck.

Quotes
[on Network (1976)] Television is democracy at its ugliest - give the people what they want. My rage isn't against television; it's against the dehumanization of people. People say to me, 'Jesus, you moved into some pretty surreal stuff', and I say 'No, I still write realistic stuff. It's the world that's turned into a satire.'