Editing Norman Panama

{{short description|American film director}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Norman Panama
| image              = Norman Panama.png
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1914|4|21}}
| birth_place        = [[Chicago, Illinois]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2003|1|13|1914|4|21}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]]
| occupation         = [[Film director]], [[screenwriter]], [[film producer]]
}}

'''Norman Kaye Panama''' (April 21, 1914 &ndash; January 13, 2003) was an American [[screenwriter]], film producer and [[film director]].  He is known for his partnership with [[Melvin Frank]] and their work on films such as ''[[Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House]]'' (1948), ''[[White Christmas (film)|White Christmas]]'' (1954), and ''[[The Court Jester]]'' (1956). Without Frank, he directed films such as  ''[[How to Commit Marriage]]'' (1969).

==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]].

==Selected filmography==
{{div col}}
*''[[My Favorite Blonde]]'' (with [[Melvin Frank]], 1942, story only)
*''[[Road to Utopia]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1946)
*''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (1946 film)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1946)
*''[[It Had to Be You (1947 film)|It Had to Be You]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1947) 
*''[[The Return of October]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1948)
*''[[Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1948)
*''[[The Reformer and the Redhead]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1950, also co-director)
*''[[Strictly Dishonorable (1951 film)|Strictly Dishonorable]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1951, also co-director)
*''[[Callaway Went Thataway]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1951, also co-director)
*''[[Above and Beyond (1952 film)|Above and Beyond]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1952, also co-director)
*''[[White Christmas (film)|White Christmas]]'' (with Melvin Frank and [[Norman Krasna]], 1954)
*''[[Knock on Wood (film)|Knock on Wood]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1954, also co-director)
*''[[The Court Jester]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1956, also co-director)
*''[[That Certain Feeling (film)|That Certain Feeling]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1956, also co-director)
*''[[Li'l Abner (1959 film)|Li'l Abner]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1959)
*''[[The Trap (1959 film)|The Trap]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1959)
*''[[The Jayhawkers!]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1959) 
*''[[The Facts of Life (film)|The Facts of Life]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1960)
*''[[The Road to Hong Kong]]'' (with Melvin Frank, 1962, also director)
*''[[Strange Bedfellows (1965 film)|Strange Bedfellows]]'' (with Melvin Frank and [[Michael Pertwee]], 1965)
*''[[Not with My Wife, You Don't!]]'' (with Melvin Frank, [[Peter Barnes (playwright)|Peter Barnes]] and [[Larry Gelbart]], 1966, also director)
*''[[The Maltese Bippy]]'' (1969, director only)
*''[[How to Commit Marriage]]'' (1969, director only)
*''[[Coffee, Tea or Me?]]'' (with Melvin Frank and [[Stanley Ralph Ross]], 1973, TV, also director)
*''[[I Will, I Will... for Now]]'' (with [[Albert E. Lewin]], 1973, also director)
*''[[Barnaby and Me]]'' (1978)
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0659085|name=Norman Panama}}

{{Norman Panama}}
{{Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panama, Norman}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:Edgar Award winners]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California|Panama, Normana]]
[[Category:Filmmaking duos]]
[[Category:American comedy film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Illinois]]
[[Category:Writers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Illinois]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]