Peter Stone - Life and Career

Life and Career

Stone was born in Los Angeles. His mother, Hilda (née Hess), was a film writer, and his father, John Stone (born Saul Strumwasser) was the writer and producer of many silent films, including Shirley Temple and Charlie Chan movies. He graduated from University High School, attended Bard College starting in 1947, and received a master's degree from Yale University in 1953. In 1964, Stone won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his screenplay for Charade.

Stone is among that rarefied group of writers who have conquered stage, screen, and television by winning an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy. In 1965, he won an Oscar for his work as a screenwriter on Father Goose. He won Tony Awards for his books for the Broadway musicals Titanic, Woman of the Year and 1776. He won an Emmy for a 1962 episode of The Defenders.

Shortly after Stone's death, in a memorial ceremony held June 30, 2003, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, it was observed that the two most famous ships of all time were Noah's Ark and the Titanic, and that Stone had written Broadway musicals about both of them (Noah's Ark being the topic of Two by Two).

Stone is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the screenplays he wrote or co-wrote in the mid 1960s, Charade (1963), Father Goose (1964) and Mirage (1965). He won the Oscar for best screenplay in 1965 for his work on Father Goose. Father Goose is a fairly conventional comedy, but the remaining three films all share a common theme and a style of screenwriting. Primarily, they attempt a blend of comedy, suspense, and romance. A decade before Brian De Palma earned a reputation exploiting Hitchcockian motifs, Stone's work in the 1960s employed Hitchcock-like narratives, even while the great director was still an active film maker. Hitchcock's influence is especially evident in Edward Dmytryk's Mirage, a suspense-mystery that Stone adapted from the Howard Fast novel Fallen Angel. The narrative has Gregory Peck suffering from "unconscious amnesia" while dodging bullets in downtown New York. Although shot in black-and-white, many of its themes and images are reminiscent of Vertigo. However, it is the Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn vehicle Charade that is probably Stone's best-remembered film. Michael Caine lists Charade as his 4th favorite film of all time, behind only Casablanca, The Third Man, and On the Waterfront.

Stone used several fairly transparent pseudonyms in his career. As 'Pierre Marton' (literally 'Peter Stone' in French) he wrote, or co-wrote, Arabesque, Skin Game and the 1976 TV film 'One of My Wives is Missing'. When Charade was remade as The Truth About Charlie, Stone was credited on-screen as 'Peter Joshua', one of the names used by Cary Grant in the original film.

In 2011, one of his projects was completed with Thomas Meehan (writer), and Death Takes a Holiday (musical) was produced off-Broadway with a score by Maury Yeston.

Stone died of pulmonary fibrosis on April 26, 2003 in Manhattan, New York. He was survived by his wife, Mary, and brother, David.