Marvin Borowsky, Theater Arts: Los Angeles

	1907-1969
	Professor

Marvin Borowsky, a brilliant teacher and an extraordinary man, was born in Atco, New Jersey, in 1907. He died in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, leaving his wife Maxine, a daughter, Mrs. Douglas Junge, and a son, Dr. Stephen Borowsky. He enjoyed the admiration of his colleagues, the affection of his contemporaries, and the friendship and respect of students from all over the world.

Borowsky grew up in Philadelphia and entered Lehigh University as an English major, although his primary interest was in the arts, particularly the theater. His summer vacations were spent directing plays at the Arden Theater, Arden, Delaware, at that time a semi-professional summer theater. Some years later, under Borowsky's direction, the Arden Theater developed into a highly successful professional theater.

After receiving his B.A. from Lehigh in 1929, Borowsky spent two years at the Yale School of Drama majoring in playwriting under Professor George Pierce Baker. From there he went to New York where his first job was as a special lighting consultant for S. K. Rothafel whose spectacular stage shows at the Roxy Theater were then popular. Later he became a play reader for The Theater Guild, and simultaneously worked with The Midtown Players, a cooperative theater group of Yale colleagues. Following that, he was Elmer Rice's stage manager, and then stage manager for The Group Theater. During this period, he wrote and sold two plays. While impatiently awaiting their production, he developed an interest in writing for motion pictures, and fed up with the procrastination of New York producers, he and his wife went to Hollywood.

His two plays were never produced, but they were instrumental in Borowsky's obtaining his first job in motion pictures as a writer for MGM. In the succeeding years, he was a contract screenwriter for most of the major studios. His enthusiasm for the medium prompted him to help other screenwriters solve their script problems. Some of those he aided recognized his inherent talent for teaching. A colleague

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and fellow writer from the MGM days writes: “If you had a problem...it became the most natural thing in the world to find yourself wandering down the hall...to Marvin's office....Marvin invested his time, his effort, and his talent in your problem,...he was an enthusiastic craftsman who loved his job.”

Those who knew him best were the least surprised when he announced his decision to devote his life to teaching the art of screenwriting, for they had known him as an excellent teacher for many years. From the time Borowsky came to UCLA as Associate Professor of Theater Arts in 1961, his life was devoted to his students. He had forty students that first year, but by the time he became a full professor there was a waiting list for his classes. He was a teacher and collaborator with each of his students, whom he thought of as friends and colleagues, and his relationships with them continued long after they graduated. Many of his former students are young professional writers or are becoming teachers; they are a living memorial to Marvin Borowsky.

Borowsky had been an officer of the Writer's Guild for many years as well as chairman of its vital Arbitration Committee, and had been First Vice President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Motion Picture Relief Fund. Also a talented painter, he was a member of the California Water Color Society. His work had been exhibited in juried shows at the Los Angeles County Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Pasadena Art Institute, among others. A gifted musician, he played viola in several amateur string quartets. In 1955 his historical novel, The Queen's Night, was published. He had intended it to be the first of a series, but he sacrificed much of this personal activity to give fully of himself as a teacher.

In 1968 Borowsky took his sabbatical in Europe and Israel. He spent much of his time interviewing filmmakers, gathering material for a book and for his students, lecturing at the Tel Aviv Screen Center, and acting as a consultant to Israeli screenwriters. He was making plans to return to Israel at the request of the government to set up an institute for screenwriters when his fatal illness intervened. Nevertheless, during the winter of 1969, he managed to spend the evening hours working with minority screenwriters at the Ebony Showcase Theater in a project sponsored by the Writer's Guild.

In a tribute to Marvin Borowsky, a cherished colleague wrote: “...to our dear friend all of us say farewell in a clear and resounding affirmation of those principles for which he lived.”