Alan Surgal

Surgal was born in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, and attended the University of Chicago.[2] He was stationed in London as a writer for the Armed Forces Network and Yank during World War II.[2]

Surgal worked as a writer for the BBC during the war.[2] He then moved to New York City following the end of World War II, where he wrote scripts for radio (and co-creating the radio show, This Is the Underground), before transitioning to television scripts.[2] He penned several episodes for the early NBC television series, Robert Montgomery Presents, including screen adaptations of Arrowsmith and The Canterville Ghost.[2]

Surgal became best known for his screenplay for Arthur Penn's 1965 surrealistic dramatic film, Mickey One.[2] To craft the script for Mickey One, Surgal borrowed from his lengthy career as both a dramatic writer as well as a television comedy writer for Victor Borge, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, and Danny Thomas.[2] While the film, which was released during a New York newspaper strike, initially flopped at the box office, Mickey One is now considered a cult classic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.[2][3] Director Martin Scorsese later supervised the restoration of the film by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[3]

Surgal moved to Los Angeles, California in 1978, where he continued to work as a television producer and writer.[2]

Surgal married Florence Small, a film producer and the sister of former NBC News and United Press International president William J. Small.[4]

Alan Surgal died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on January 3, 2017, at the age of 100.[2][3] He was survived by his wife of 80 years, Florence Small.[2] The couple had two sons, Jon Surgal, a 1985 graduate of Columbia College,[5] and Tom Surgal.[2]

• Alan Surgal at IMDb