Curt Siodmak
Curt Siodmak was a notable screenwriter and novelist, born Kurt Siodmak in 1902 in Dresden, Germany. He initially pursued a career in mathematics, earning a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich, but transitioned to writing in the late 1920s, collaborating with future Hollywood director Billy Wilder on his first screenplay, "Menschen am Sonntag." Leaving Germany in 1933 to escape the Nazis, Siodmak moved to England and then to the United States in 1937, where he gained significant recognition working with Universal Studios. His most famous work, the 1941 film "The Wolf Man," tells the tragic story of Sir John Talbot, showcasing his ability to blend horror with empathy. Siodmak also penned sequels like "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" and gained acclaim for his science-fiction novel "Donovan's Brain," which became a bestseller and was later adapted into film. In the 1950s, he shifted focus from horror to science fiction and Cold War themes, receiving accolades for his contributions, including the Bundespreis for Best Screenplay in 1964. Siodmak passed away in 2000 at the age of ninety-eight, leaving behind a legacy of imaginative storytelling within multiple genres.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Curt Siodmak
- Born: August 10, 1902
- Birthplace: Dresden, Saxony, Germany
- Died: September 9, 2000
- Place of death: Three Rivers, California
Biography
Screenwriter and novelist Curt Siodmak was born Kurt Siodmak in 1902 in Dresden, Germany, the son of Ignatz and Rose Siodmak. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Zurich in 1927, pursuing further studies in Dresden and Stuttgart from 1929 to 1930. He also began writing screenplays in the late 1920’s, and his first screenplay, Menschen am Sonntag, was written in collaboration with Billy Wilder, who later became a prominent Hollywood director.
Siodmak married Henrietta De Perrot in 1931, and they had a son, Geoffrey Curt De Perrot. After working on novels, stories, and film scripts for several years, Siodmak left Germany, and the Nazis, in 1933 for England, where he worked for the film company Gaumont-British for four years before immigrating to the United States in 1937.
After arriving in the United States, Siodmak worked mostly with Universal Studios in the 1940’s, and it was with Universal that he found great success with his script for the 1941 film The Wolf Man, directed by George Waggner. The film tells the story of Sir John Talbot, a man who turns into a wolf. In the words of author Kevin Mace, “The story may seem simple, but Siodmak’s screenplay sympathetically depicts Talbot’s plight and the film becomes a sad, almost mournful horror picture in which the audience comes to feel and fear for Talbot.” Siodmak also wrote the screenplays for Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and House of Frankenstein, the sequels spawned by the popularity of The Wolf Man.
Siodmak’s science-fiction novel Donovan’s Brain (1943) became an international best-seller after its release, and the book was adapted for film by director Felix Feist and Hugh Brooke in 1953. Siodmak scripted many other films, and in 1964 he was awarded the Bundespreis for Best Screenplay for Das Feuerschiff. However, Siodmak may have experienced his most significant career achievements in the 1950’s, when he directed several of his screenplays and moved from the genre of horror films to a focus on science fiction and the Cold War. Kevin Mace, writing in the Dicitonary of Literary Biography, said, “Siodmak. . . has shown that the horror film genre can be literate and imaginative without resorting to exploitive thrills or unnecessary gore.” Siodmak died in 2000 at the age of ninety-eight.