Radio Giant Norman Corwin Dies In Calif. At 101
Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s.
Corwin was among the first producers to regularly use entertainment—even
light entertainment—to tackle serious social issues. In this area he was a peer of
Orson Welles and
William N. Robson, and an inspiration to other later radio/TV writers such as
Rod Serling,
Gene Roddenberry,
Norman Lear,
J. Michael Straczynski and
Yuri Rasovsky.
He was the son of Samuel and Rose Corwin and was born in
Boston, Massachusetts. Corwin was a major figure during the
Golden Age of Radio. During the 1930s and 1940s he was a writer and producer of many radio programs in many genres: history, biography, fantasy, fiction, poetry and drama. He was the writer and creator of series such as
The Columbia Workshop,
13 By Corwin,
26 By Corwin and others. He recently was a lecturer at the
University of Southern California.
Corwin has won the One World Award, two
Peabody Medals, an
Emmy, a
Golden Globe, a
duPont-Columbia Award; he was nominated for an
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for
Lust for Life (1956). On May 12, 1990 Corwin received an Honorary Doctorate from
Lincoln College. In 1996 he received the Doctor of Humane Letters
honoris causa from
California Lutheran University. Corwin was inducted into the
National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993. A documentary film on Corwin's life,
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin won an
Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Feature) in 2006.
Les Guthman's feature documentary on Mr. Corwin's career,
Corwin aired on
PBS in the 1990s. He was inducted into the
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Diamond Circle in 1994.
Corwin was married in 1947 to actress
Katherine Locke. They had two children—an adopted son, Anthony Leon, and a daughter, Diane Arlene. Locke died in 1995.
Corwin was Jewish, and his parents observed Judaism. (His father, Sam Corwin, attended holiday services until his death at 110). While not an observant Jew, Corwin has infused much of his work with the ideas of the Hebrew Prophets. One of the prayerbooks of American
Reform Judaism,
Shaarei Tefila: Gates of Prayer, contains a portion of the
Prayer from the finale of Corwin's
On a Note of Triumph
- Lord God of test-tube and blueprint
- Who jointed molecules of dust and shook them till their name was Adam,
- Who taught worms and stars how they could live together,
- Appear now among the parliaments of conquerors and give instruction to their schemes:
- Measure out new liberties so none shall suffer for his father's color or the credo of his choice:
- Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit by postponing it pretend:
- Sit at the treaty table and convoy the hopes of the little peoples through expected straits,
- And press into the final seal a sign that peace will come for longer than posterities can see ahead,
- That man unto his fellow man shall be a friend forever.
Corwin worked as a newspaper journalist for the
Greenfield Recorder and the
Springfield Republican, and later read news over
WBZA in Massachusetts. He moved to New York City in 1936 and created a program for independent station
WQXR. In 1938, he began working for the
CBS Radio Network. CBS scheduled
Norman Corwin's Words Without Music, the first usage of a writer's name in a program title; the series included two of his more famous works,
The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, a fantasy in rhyme, and
They Fly Through The Air, an impassioned reaction to the
Spanish Civil War.
In 1941 Corwin was given the timeslot and resources of the Columbia Workshop program for a full six months, under the title
26 By Corwin, which required him to conceive, write, cast, direct and produce a completely new play every seven days.
We Hold These Truths was first broadcast on December 15, 1941, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the
United States Bill of Rights. Many radio and movie stars of the day featured, along with an epilogue by
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
National Public Radio sponsored a new version of this program in 1991, for the
Bill of Rights bicentennial.
Columbia Presents Corwin (1944) offered stories ranging from serious to whimsical.
His most famous work is
On a Note of Triumph, a celebration of the Allied victory in Europe, first broadcast on
VE Day, May 8,
1945. Corwin reports being on a train "somewhere near Albuquerque" when news of the end of the European war came to him. He had been planning to produce
On a Note of Triumph as a morale booster for the men overseas. But the war with Germany had ended, and he doubted the network still wished to air it. (Just in case, broadcast historian Erik Barnouw wrote, Corwin had performers ready in both New York City and Los Angeles). Corwin called his network and expressed concern. CBS radio head
William Paley sent a message to Corwin on the train .... "the President says, 'now more than ever.' "
With
Harry Truman's insistence that it continue, the program went on (from the Los Angeles studios of CBS Radio Station
KNX), with
Martin Gabel as host/narrator and with
William L. Shirer (via cable from New York) re-creating his role as reporter in the Compeigne forest covering the French surrender to Germany. With an audience of 60 million listeners it became one of the most famous ever produced on radio.
Corwin wrote a similar program for CBS, Fourteen August, which was broadcast on
V-J Day on CBS.
Corwin was the first winner of the One World Award established by the Common Council for American Unity along with the (Wendle) Willkie Memorial of Freedom House. The award's winner was given an around the world trip. He won the award for his contributions in the field of mass communication to the concept of the world becoming more unified. In mid-June, 1946, he set out from New York for a 4 month journey. He interviewed both world leaders and ordinary citizens, accompanied by a CBS recording engineer with 225 pounds of magnetic wire recording equipment. His 100 hours of recorded interviews was transcribed and took up 3700 pages. The CBS network then molded his work into a 13 part documentary that was aired in the Winter and Spring of 1947. Programs featured Great Britain, Western Europe, Sweden and Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Egypt and India, Shanghai and Cities of the Far East, The Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand.
Corwin wrote and directed two plays produced on Broadway,
The Rivalry (1959) and
The World of Carl Sandburg (1960). According to
Ray Bradbury, Corwin was responsible for the eventual publication of Bradbury's
The Martian Chronicles.
Composer
David Raksin's "reverent orchestral theme" for the 1950 MGM film
The Next Voice You Hear... was later published with original lyrics by Corwin as the hymn "Hasten the Day."
Corwin wrote a number of motion picture screenplays, including
The Blue Veil (1951),
Scandal at Scourie (1953),
Lust for Life (1956), and
The Story of Ruth (1961).
In the early 1970s Corwin produced and hosted the television show
Norman Corwin Presents. In 1979 he hosted
Academy Leaders, a weekly showcase for short animated films, such as those produced by the
National Film Board of Canada.
Corwin wrote several books, which include
Trivializing America; plus many essays, letters, articles and plays.
During the 1990s, Corwin returned to radio drama, producing a series of radio plays for
National Public Radio. In 1993, Corwin was finally inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame after a long career. And in 2001, NPR aired six new plays by Corwin under the title
More By Corwin. He also lectured at USC as a visiting professor and was also on the Advisory Board of the
National Audio Theatre Festival. Corwin celebrated his 101st birthday in May 2011.
"Golden Age" works in radio drama
Corwin wrote and produced over 100 programs during the golden age of radio. Notable programs include:
- The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - December 25, 1938
- They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease - February 19, 1939
- Spoon River Anthology - March, 1939
- Descent of the Gods - August 3, 1940
- Mary and the Fairy - August 31, 1940
- Psalm for a Dark Year - November 9, 1940
- We Hold These Truths - December 15, 1941
- America at War (series) - February 14, 1942
- The Lonesome Train - March 21, 1944
- Untitled - May 30, 1944
- Home For the 4th - July 4, 1944
- El Capitan and the Corporal - July 25, 1944
- On a Note of Triumph - May 8, 1945
- The Undecided Molecule - July 17, 1945
- 14 August - August 14, 1945
- God and Uranium - August 19, 1945
- Hollywood Fights Back - October 26, 1947
- Could Be - September 8, 1949
- Document A/777 - March 26, 1950
Later works in radio drama
In recent years National Public Radio commissioned a number of new plays by Corwin; the series was called
More By Corwin.
- Our Lady Of The Freedoms, And Some Of Her Friends - A play about the Statue of Liberty.
- The Writer With The Lame Left Hand - Based on the life story of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. This production featured Ed Asner, Charles Durning, Samantha Eggar and William Shatner.
- The Curse Of 589 is a comedy about a physicist (William Shatner) who comes across an honest-to-goodness real life fairy, with a working magic wand.
Corwin is currently a lecturer at the University of Southern California.
Published works
A selected listing of books by Corwin, excluding collections of his radio dramas:
- So Say the Wise: A Community Of Modern Mind—New York: George Sully Company, 1929—A compendium of quotations, concentrating on current personalities. Compiled by Corwin and Hazel Cooley.
- Holes in a Stained Glass Window—Secaucus, NJ : L. Stuart, 1978—Collection of Corwin's Essays, Articles and Poetry. Contains both Prayer for the 70s and Jerusalem Printout
- Trivializing America—Secaucus, NJ : Lyle Stuart, 1983—A best-selling critique of the failings of contemporary American culture
- Norman Corwin's Letters / Edited By Jack Langguth—New York : Barricade Books Inc., 1994—Compilation of letters written throughout Corwin's career.
Addendum: The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, Opera, Music by Walter Scharf, Libretto by Norman Corwin - written 1960, only performance 2000 Brigham Young University. The opera exists in manuscript form only. Composer and Librettest unable to agree on terms for further use. Scharf died in 2003.
