Erich Segal
Encyclopedia
Erich Wolf Segal was an American author
, screenwriter
, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story
(1970), a best-seller, and writing the motion picture
of the same name, which was a major hit.
, Segal attended Midwood High School
in Brooklyn and traveled to Switzerland
to take summer courses. He attended Harvard College
, graduating as both the class poet and Latin
salutatorian
in 1958, after which he obtained his master's degree
(in 1959) and a doctorate
(in 1965) in comparative literature, from Harvard University.
and Princeton University
. He had been a Supernumerary Fellow and subsequently an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
.
. In 2001 Harvard published his The Death of Comedy, the all-encompassing literary history.
for The Beatles
' 1968 motion picture, Yellow Submarine
.
student, but failed to sell it. However, literary agent
Lois Wallace at the William Morris Agency
suggested he turn the script into a novel
and the result was a literary and motion picture phenomenon called Love Story
. A New York Times No. 1 bestseller, the book became the top selling work of fiction for 1970
in the United States, and was translated into 33 languages worldwide. The motion picture of the same name
was the number one box office
attraction of 1970
.
Segal went on to write more novels and screenplays, including the 1977 sequel to Love Story, called Oliver's Story
.
. He wrote widely on Greek
and Latin literature
. His novel The Class (1985), a saga based on the Harvard Class of 1958, was also a bestseller, and won literary honour in France
and Italy
. Doctors was another New York Times bestseller from Segal.
s Debut Fiction columnist
.
, died of a heart attack
on January 17, 2010, and was buried in London. In a eulogy delivered at his funeral, his daughter Francesca said, "That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was -- a blind obsessionality that saw him pursue his teaching, his writing, his running and my mother, with just the same tenacity. He was the most dogged man any of us will ever know."
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story
Love Story (novel)
Love Story is a 1970 romance novel by American writer Erich Segal. The book's origins were in that of a screenplay Segal wrote and was subsequently approved for production by Paramount Pictures. Paramount requested that Segal adapt the story into novel form as a preview of sorts for the film. The...
(1970), a best-seller, and writing the motion picture
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
of the same name, which was a major hit.
Early life
The son of a rabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Segal attended Midwood High School
Midwood High School
Midwood High School, at Brooklyn College, is a public, urban, co-ed high school located on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City.Midwood High School was for many years the recipient of multiple accolades because of its competitive educational programs and for the achievements of its students...
in Brooklyn and traveled to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to take summer courses. He attended Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, graduating as both the class poet and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...
in 1958, after which he obtained his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
(in 1959) and a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
(in 1965) in comparative literature, from Harvard University.
Teaching career
Segal was a professor of Greek and Latin literature at Harvard University, Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. He had been a Supernumerary Fellow and subsequently an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
.
Writing career
His first academic book, Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus, revolutionized the great Roman comic playwright best known today as the inspiration for the Broadway hit, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
. In 2001 Harvard published his The Death of Comedy, the all-encompassing literary history.
Yellow Submarine
In 1967, from the story by Lee Minoff, he wrote the screenplayScreenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' 1968 motion picture, Yellow Submarine
Yellow Submarine (film)
Yellow Submarine is a 1968 animated musical fantasy film based on the music of The Beatles. It is also the title for the film's soundtrack album, released as part of The Beatles' music catalogue. The film was directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King...
.
Love Story
In the late 1960s, Segal collaborated on other screenplays, and also had written a synthetic romantic story by himself about a Harvard student and a RadcliffeRadcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
student, but failed to sell it. However, literary agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
Lois Wallace at the William Morris Agency
William Morris Agency
WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
suggested he turn the script into a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
and the result was a literary and motion picture phenomenon called Love Story
Love Story (novel)
Love Story is a 1970 romance novel by American writer Erich Segal. The book's origins were in that of a screenplay Segal wrote and was subsequently approved for production by Paramount Pictures. Paramount requested that Segal adapt the story into novel form as a preview of sorts for the film. The...
. A New York Times No. 1 bestseller, the book became the top selling work of fiction for 1970
1970 in literature
The year 1970 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Deliverance by American poet James Dickey published...
in the United States, and was translated into 33 languages worldwide. The motion picture of the same name
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
was the number one box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
attraction of 1970
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
.
Segal went on to write more novels and screenplays, including the 1977 sequel to Love Story, called Oliver's Story
Oliver's Story
Oliver's Story is the sequel to the novel Love Story by Erich Segal, turned into a movie of the same name in 1978. It was directed by John Korty and starred Ryan O'Neal and Candice Bergen. The original music score was composed by Lee Holdridge and Francis Lai. Unlike the original film, Oliver's...
.
Writing and teaching after Love Story
He published a number of scholarly works as well as teaching at the university level. He acted as a visiting professor for the University of Munich, Princeton University, and Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. He wrote widely on Greek
Greek literature
Greek literature refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence, typically though not necessarily in one of the Greek dialects, throughout the whole period in which the Greek-speaking people have existed.-Ancient Greek literature :...
and Latin literature
Latin literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings of the ancient Romans. In many ways, it seems to be a continuation of Greek literature, using many of the same forms...
. His novel The Class (1985), a saga based on the Harvard Class of 1958, was also a bestseller, and won literary honour in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Doctors was another New York Times bestseller from Segal.
Family
Segal was married to Karen James from 1975; they had two daughters, Miranda and Francesca Segal. Francesca, born in 1980, is a freelance journalist and literary critic and currently The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Debut Fiction columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
.
Death
Segal, who suffered from Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on January 17, 2010, and was buried in London. In a eulogy delivered at his funeral, his daughter Francesca said, "That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was -- a blind obsessionality that saw him pursue his teaching, his writing, his running and my mother, with just the same tenacity. He was the most dogged man any of us will ever know."
Filmography
- Yellow SubmarineYellow Submarine (film)Yellow Submarine is a 1968 animated musical fantasy film based on the music of The Beatles. It is also the title for the film's soundtrack album, released as part of The Beatles' music catalogue. The film was directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King...
(1968) - The GamesThe Games (film)The Games is a 1970 film based on the Hugh Atkinson novel and adapted to the screen by Erich Segal. It was directed by Michael Winner.The plot concerned four marathon competitors at a fictitious Olympic Games in Rome, played by Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, Charles Aznavour, and Athol Compton...
(1970) - R.P.M. (1970)
- Love StoryLove Story (1970 film)Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
(1970) - Jennifer on My Mind (1971)
- Oliver's StoryOliver's StoryOliver's Story is the sequel to the novel Love Story by Erich Segal, turned into a movie of the same name in 1978. It was directed by John Korty and starred Ryan O'Neal and Candice Bergen. The original music score was composed by Lee Holdridge and Francis Lai. Unlike the original film, Oliver's...
(1978) - A Change of SeasonsA Change of Seasons (film)A Change of Seasons is a 1980 American dramedy film directed by Stephen Frears. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine and Bo Derek.-Plot:...
(1980) - Man, Woman and ChildMan, Woman and ChildMan, Woman and Child is a novel by Erich Segal. It details the lives of Robert and Sheila Beckwith and their daughters Jessica and Paula.- Synopsis :...
(1983)