Millard Kaufman enlisted in the military joining the Marines during World War II participating in the battle for Guadalcanal and the landings at Guam and Okinawa and was awarded a Bronze Star for bravery under fire. During McCarthyism he allowed his name to be used for blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo on the 1950 film-noir crime classic GUN CRAZY. He later insisted his name be removed and returned to Trumbo. “Any time I had speaking engagements where they included that film in my credits, I always set the record straight anyway,” he said.  Kaufman was the co-created of the cartoon character MISTER MAGOO (1960).

At the age of 86 he wrote his first novel, A Bowl of Cherries, which was published in October 2007. Kaufman married a gal named Lorraine and during 66 years of matrimony raised 3 kids: Frederick, Mary, and Amy Bur. After graduating at John Hopkins University, Kaufman like so many early screenwriters did his time newspaper copy editor and writer with the New York Daily News, and thenNewsday.

He was twice nominated for a screenwriting Oscar for TAKE THE HIGH GROUND and BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK. You can read Kaufman’s script for Black Rock here. (One of my favorite movies.)