Joseph L. Mankiewicz



Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was a Hollywood screenwriter, director and producer.

Quotes

 * I am never quite sure whether I am one of the cinema's elder statesmen or just the oldest whore on the beat.
 * Time magazine (September 14, 1970)


 * I have a lot to be sad about. Not bitter in any way.  But I think it can be fairly said that I've been in on the beginning, the rise, peak, collapse and end of the talking picture.
 * "Joseph Mankiewicz, Master of the Movies," interview by Paul Attanasio, The Washington Post (June 1, 1986)


 * I got a job at Metro and went in to see Louis Mayer, who told me he wanted me to be a producer. I said I wanted to write and direct. He said, "No, you have to produce first, you have to crawl before you can walk." Which is as good a definition of producing as I ever heard.
 * Quoted in Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 15th edition (Harper Collins, 2003, ISBN 0-060-53423-0, p. 312


 * Every screenwriter worthy of the name has already directed his film when he has written his script.
 * Quoted in Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 15th edition (Harper Collins, 2003, ISBN 0-060-53423-0, p. 312