Art Buchwald

Art Buchwald , 1925-2006, American humorist, b. Mt. Vernon, N.Y. He began (1949) a syndicated entertainment column for the New York Herald Tribune while living in Paris. In 1962 he returned to the United States, where from 1967 to 2006 his humorous column were syndicated by the Los Angeles Times and (after the Times was sold in 2000) Tribune Media Services; his column appeared in more than 500 newspapers at its peak. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for outstanding commentary in 1982. In 1988 he and movie producer Alain Bernheim successfully sued Paramount Studios on charges that Paramount denied them credit for and profits from Buchwald's story idea "King for a Day," upon which Paramount based the movie Coming to America. Buchwald's columns have been collected in more than 30 anthologies. He also wrote two memoirs, Leaving Home (1993) and I'll Always Have Paris (1996). A decade later he suffered a severe health crisis and, preferring to avoid the dialysis he was told his life depended on, moved to a hospice. After making a surprising recovery, he detailed the experience in Too Soon to Say Goodbye (2006).

Bibliography: See P. O'Donnell and D. McDougal, Fatal Subtraction (1992).