Paul Mazursky (born
April 25,
1930) is an
American film director,
screenwriter and
actor.
Personal life
He was born
Irwin Mazursky in
Brooklyn,
New York, the son of Jean (
née Gerson), a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer.
[Paul Mazursky Biography (1930-)] His grandfather was a
Jewish immigrant from
Ukraine.
He graduated from
Brooklyn College in 1951. Mazursky is an
atheist.
Career
Mazursky made his film debut as an actor in
Stanley Kubrick's first feature,
Fear and Desire, in which he changed his first name to Paul, and later appeared as a juvenile delinquent in the 1955 film
The Blackboard Jungle. He soon became a writer and worked on
The Danny Kaye Show in 1963. In 1965, he collaborated with
Larry Tucker in crafting the script of the original pilot of
The Monkees television series, in which they both also appeared in cameos.
