1897–1953 · American screenwriter, co-author of Citizen Kane
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (7 November 1897 – 5 March 1953) was an American journalist turned screenwriter. He was assistant theater editor at The New York Times from 1923 to 1926 and The New Yorker’s first regular theatre critic, before going to Hollywood and ending 1927 as head of Paramount’s scenario department. He co-wrote Citizen Kane (1941) with Orson Welles and shared the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for it; his other credits include Dinner at Eight and The Pride of the Yankees, and he contributed to The Wizard of Oz. He died in Los Angeles at 55 of uremic poisoning brought on by liver failure.