| 1923, Jan 29 |
Sidney Chayefsky was born in New York City to Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky, both Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a dairy company executive.
|
| 1939 |
Graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx.
|
| 1940 |
Played semi-professional football with the Knightsbridge (NY) Trojans.
|
| 1943 |
After graduation from City College of New York, enlisted in U.S. Army. While in the army, he adopted the nickname Paddy.
|
| 1944 |
Wounded by a land mine in Germany, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. While recuperating in a hospital in England he wrote his first play, a musical entitled No T/O For Love.
|
| 1945 |
No T/O For Love was produced by US Army Special Services and toured military installations in England and throughout Europe; Chayefsky had a leading role in the production. He also worked on The True Glory, a documentary film about GI's in World War II.
|
| 1946 |
After his discharge from the army, he worked briefly in his uncle's printing shop. On the GI Bill he studied acting at the Actor's Lab in Hollywood, and used a $500 writing fellowship from Garson Kanin to pay his expenses while writing a play “Put Them All Together.”
|
| 1947 |
Received a junior writers contract from Universal-International.
|
| 1948 |
Had a minor role as an actor in the film Double Life.
|
| 1949 |
Married Susan Sackler; they have had one son, Dan.
|
| 1950 |
Wrote a play, “The Man Who Made The Mountain Shake.”
|
| 1952 |
Wrote radio plays for Theatre Guild of the Air and Cavalcade of America. Wrote teleplays for the series Danger, Manhunt, and Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse. Philco-Goodyear produced Holiday Song and The Reluctant Citizen.
|
| 1953 |
Philco-Goodyear produced Printer's Measure, Marty, The Big Deal, The Bachelor Party, The Sixth Year, and Catch My Boy On Sunday.
|
| 1954 |
The Mother and Middle of the Night presented on Philco-Goodyear. Film version of Marty released.
|
| 1955 |
Marty won four Academy Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Picture. The Catered Affair was his last teleplay; it was shown on Philco-Goodyear.
|
| 1956 |
Middle of the Night opened on Broadway, and film The Catered Affair was released.
|
| 1957 |
Film version of The Bachelor Party was released.
|
| 1958 |
The Goddess was released and won the critics prize at the Brussels Film Festival.
|
| 1959 |
Film version of Middle of the Night was released in New York and London. The Tenth Man became Chayefsky's second Broadway hit. Under the auspices of the U.S. State Department, Chayefsky travelled to the Soviet Union to speak with Russian writers.
|
| 1961 |
Gideon opened on Broadway.
|
| 1963-64 |
Worked on the screenplay for The Cincinnati Kid (1965), for which he was not credited.
|
| 1964 |
The Passion of Josef D., written and directed by Chayefsky, opened on Broadway. The Americanization of Emily, with screenplay by Chayefsky, was released.
|
| 1968 |
The Latent Heterosexual, a play, was produced in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Bristol's Old Vic.
|
| 1970 |
Chayefsky wrote the screenplay for the film adaption of Paint Your Wagon.
|
| 1971 |
Gideon was produced on television. The Hospital was released. Chayefsky helped found an organization, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East; and he was a delegate to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry.
|
| 1972 |
The Hospital won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
|
Much of the above information was supplied by John M. Clum, author of Paddy Chayefsky, soon to be published in the Twain United States Authors Series.
