Editing Norman Panama (section)

==Life and career==
Panama met his future collaborator [[Melvin Frank]] in 1933 when they were both at the [[University of Chicago]].<ref name=NYTBio>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/15/obituaries/melvin-frank-producer-director-and-writer-of-movies-dies-at-75.html |title=Melvin Frank, Producer, Director and Writer of Movies, Dies at 75 |first=Glenn |last=Collins |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1988-10-15 |access-date=2018-01-28}}</ref> After graduating, they formed a partnership in 1935 which endured for four decades; first writing for [[Milton Berle]] before becoming writers for [[Bob Hope]]'s radio show and for [[Groucho Marx]]. In 1941, they sold their first script to [[Paramount Pictures]], ''[[My Favorite Blonde]]'' (1942), which starred Hope.<ref name=varobit/>

They worked for Paramount for five years where, among others, they wrote ''[[Road to Utopia]]'' (1946), starring Hope and [[Bing Crosby]], for which they received an [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay]].<ref name=varobit/> They moved to [[Columbia Pictures]] making ''[[It Had to Be You (1947 film)|It Had to Be You]]'' (1947) and ''[[The Return of October]]'' (1948) and also wrote ''[[Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House]]'' (1948) for [[RKO]].<ref name=varobit/>

In 1950, they signed a writing, producing and directing deal with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] and made films together as co-writers, co-directors and co-producers.<ref name=varobit>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=October 14, 1988|page=35|title=Frank Dies After Heart Surgery|last=McCarthy|first=Todd|author-link=Todd McCarthy}}</ref> They started with ''[[The Reformer and the Redhead]]'' (1950) and also made ''[[Knock on Wood (film)|Knock on Wood]]'' (1954) and ''[[The Court Jester]]'' (1956), both with [[Danny Kaye]], with the former earning them another Academy Award nomination. They also co-wrote ''[[White Christmas (film)|White Christmas]]'' (1954) with [[Norman Krasna]]. They wrote a Broadway play together in 1956, later adapted into ''[[Li'l Abner (1959 film)|Li'l Abner]]'' (1959), directed by Frank. They received another Academy Award nomination for ''[[The Facts of Life (film)|The Facts of Life]]'' (1960) and also worked on  ''[[The Road to Hong Kong]]'' (1962).<ref name=varobit/>

He won an [[Edgar Award]] for ''A Talent for Murder'' (1981), a play he co-wrote with [[Jerome Chodorov]].<ref name="edgars">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/12/books/mystery-writers-honor-7-with-edgar-awards.html |title=Mystery Writers Honor 7 With Edgar Awards |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1982-05-12 }}</ref> Panama continued to write and direct through the 1980s. He died in 2003 in [[Los Angeles, California]], aged 88, from complications of [[Parkinson's disease]].