Eleanor Bergstein | |
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Born | Eleanor Bergstein April 17, 1938 New York, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
Subject | American film |
Spouse | Michael Paul Goldman (m. 1965;died 2023) |
Eleanor Bergstein (born April 17, 1938) is an American writer, known for writing and co-producing Dirty Dancing , a popular 1980s film based in large part on her own childhood. [1]
Bergstein was born in 1938 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. She has one older sister, Frances, in her Jewish family. Their father, Joseph, [2] was a doctor who left much of the care of the girls to their mother, Sarah. The family spent summers in the luxury resorts Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel in the Catskill Mountains; and, while her parents were playing golf, Bergstein was dancing. [3]
Bergstein was a teenage Mambo queen, competing in local competitions. While at college, she worked as a dance instructor at Arthur Murray dance studios. [4] Bergstein graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1958.[ citation needed ]
In 1965, she was married to Michael Paul Goldman. They were married until his death in 2023. [5] She worked as a novelist, including Advancing Paul Newman. This novel contains many of the themes of her famous movie. She also tried her hand at scriptwriting and had success with It's My Turn , a film starring Michael Douglas and Jill Clayburgh. During production, the producers cut an erotic dance scene from the script. That sparked Bergstein into writing a more extensive story, focusing on "dirty dancing".
The movie Dirty Dancing was released in theaters in 1987. [6]
In 2004, Bergstein also adapted the movie into a stage version of Dirty Dancing, which became a musical. [7] The show opened in 2004 in Australia.
William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories: first for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and then for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).
Broadway Melody of 1936 is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. It was a follow-up of sorts to the successful The Broadway Melody, which had been released in 1929, although, there is no story connection with the earlier film beyond the title and some music.
The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, bordering the northern edges of the New York metropolitan area.
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman (Grey), a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze) at a vacation resort.
Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM film musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine".
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. The film stars Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor and features Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Raymond Walburn, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes.
The Drowning Pool is a 1975 American mystery thriller film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and based upon Ross Macdonald's novel of the same name. The film stars Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Anthony Franciosa, and is a loose sequel to Harper. The setting is shifted from California to Louisiana.
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is a 1987 song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and used as the theme song for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The song has won a number of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Harper is a 1966 American mystery thriller film directed by Jack Smight from a screenplay by William Goldman, based on the 1949 novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald. The film stars Paul Newman as Lew Harper, with a cast that includes Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner and Shelley Winters.
Misery is a 1990 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Rob Reiner from a script by William Goldman, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name, The plot centers around an author who is held captive by an obsessive fan who forces him to rewrite the finale to his novel series. Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, and Lauren Bacall also star.
Michael Santiago Gutierrez, better known as Michael Terrace, was an American ballroom and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, actor, dance consultant, and writer. His stage and subsequent dance career spanned a total of 60 years, during which he made innumerable contributions to ballroom dancing. Terrace played Bernardo in West Side Story with the national company and was picked out of 2,500 ballet dancers to be at the Metropolitan Opera House with the Bolshoi Ballet Company of Russia.
The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.
Bergstein is German for "hill rock" and may refer to:
It's My Turn is a 1980 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, and Charles Grodin.
Jessica Sharzer is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and editor.
Brown's Hotel was a nationally known resort complex located in the Borscht Belt area of upstate New York, in the Catskill Mountains. It was one of the largest and most elaborate establishments of its kind during an era when the entire region prospered as a tourist destination. From the 1940s to the 1980s, the hotel was a popular vacation destination for many upper-middle-class families living in the New York City metropolitan area. Jewish-American families were welcomed and even catered to specifically by the hotels in the Borscht Belt during a time period when anti-semitism was prevalent in the hospitality industry. Filling a niche, the area quickly became a mecca for Jewish-American families. Brown's Hotel was located in the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake in the Town of Fallsburg, Sullivan County, New York.
Shana Feste is an American film director and screenwriter. She has directed and written The Greatest, Country Strong, Endless Love, Boundaries, Run Sweetheart Run, and also has writing credits for You're Not You. She also teaches at the American Film Institute.
Dirty Dancing is a 2017 American television film directed by Wayne Blair and written by Jessica Sharzer. It is a made-for-TV musical remake of the 1987 film of the same name, and serves as an installment in the titular franchise. The film stars Abigail Breslin, Colt Prattes, Debra Messing, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Hyland, Nicole Scherzinger and Tony Roberts. It aired on May 24, 2017, on ABC. In its original broadcast, the film was seen by 6.61 million viewers with a 1.4 Nielsen rating in the 18-49 age demographic and a 5 share.
The Dirty Dancing franchise consists of American dance-romance installments, including two theatrical films, one television series adaptation, one made-for-TV musical remake movie, five reality competition television shows, and various additional multi-media. Based on an original story by Eleanor Bergstein, the plot centers around young women from past decades who are introduced to dancing by experienced males, with the pair becoming romantically involved.
Sweet Lorraine is a 1987 American film directed by Steve Gomer in his directorial debut. The film draws from Gomer's adolescent experiences at the Heiden Hotel in the Catskills.