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47-551: He is the namesake of the Juzo Itami Award , founded in 2009 to honor his legacy. Itami was born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi in Kyoto . The name Itami was passed on from his father, Mansaku Itami , a renowned satirist and film director before World War II . In his childhood, he went by the name Takehiko Ikeuchi (池内 岳彦). At the end of the war, in Kyoto, Itami was chosen as a prodigy and educated in

94-546: A Pulitzer Prize , which Saroyan refused on the grounds that commerce should not judge the arts; he did accept the New York Drama Critics' Circle award. The play was adapted into a 1948 film starring James Cagney . Before the war, Saroyan had worked on the screenplay of Golden Boy (1939), based on Clifford Odets 's play , but he never had much success in Hollywood. A second screenplay, The Human Comedy (1943)

141-500: A Tokubetsu Kagaku Gakkyū  [ ja ] ("special scientific education class"), where he began to be trained as a future scientist who was expected to defeat the Allied powers. Among his fellow students were the sons of Hideki Yukawa and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga . The program was abolished in March 1947. He moved from Kyoto to Ehime Prefecture when he was a high school student. He attended

188-513: A 5,000 Dram banknote in 2018. In October 1988, a small alley in San Francisco across from City Lights Bookstore named Adler Place, was renamed William Saroyan Place in Saroyan's honor. Championed by City Lights owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti , the naming (along with the renaming of its twin alley across the street to " Jack Kerouac Alley ") was commemorated with a gala. In Los Angeles, there are

235-782: A Paris apartment. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Saroyan earned more money and finally got out of debt. In 1979, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame . The Indian educational board CBSE has added a chapter of his in the grade 11 English book Snapshots named "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" in his honour. Saroyan had a correspondence with writer Sanora Babb that began in 1932 and ended in 1941, that grew into an unrequited love affair on Saroyan's part. In 1943, Saroyan married actress Carol Grace (1924–2003; also known as Carol Marcus), with whom he had two children: Aram , who became an author and published

282-685: A book about his father, and Lucy , who became an actress. By the late 1940s, Saroyan's drinking and gambling took a toll on his marriage, and in 1949, upon returning from an extended European trip, he filed for divorce. They remarried in 1951 and divorced again in 1952 with Marcus later claiming in her autobiography, Among the Porcupines: A Memoir , that Saroyan was abusive . After her divorce from Saroyan, Carol Grace (Marcus) married actor Walter Matthau in 1959, and they remained married until his death in 2000. Saroyan died in Fresno, of prostate cancer at

329-711: A disbeliever in everything about God excepting God indefinable, inside all and careless of all. Saroyan published essays and memoirs, in which he depicted the people he had met on travels in the Soviet Union and Europe, such as the playwright George Bernard Shaw , the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius , and Charlie Chaplin . In 1952, Saroyan published The Bicycle Rider in Beverly Hills , the first of several volumes of memoirs . Several other works were drawn from his own experiences, although his approach to autobiographical fact contained

376-600: A fair bit of poetic license . Drawn from such deeply personal sources, Saroyan's plays often disregarded the convention that conflict is essential to drama. My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), his first play, a comedy about a young boy and his Armenian family, was produced at the Guild Theatre in New York. He is probably best remembered for his play The Time of Your Life (1939), set in a waterfront saloon in San Francisco. It won

423-428: A flying trapeze to some sort of eternity; he prayed objectively for strength to make the flight with grace. The story was republished in the 1941 short story collection that took its title. The royalties from this enabled Saroyan to travel to Europe and Armenia, where he learned to love the taste of Russian cigarettes, once observing, "You may tend to get cancer from the thing that makes you want to smoke so much, not from

470-657: A novel, The Human Comedy . Saroyan wrote extensively about the Armenian immigrant life in California. Many of his stories and plays are set in his native Fresno . Some of his best-known works are The Time of Your Life , My Name Is Aram and My Heart's in the Highlands . His two collections of short stories from the 1930s, Inhale Exhale (1936) and The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1941) are regarded as among his major achievements and essential documents of

517-558: A realistic novel. The plays Sam Ego's House (1949) and The Slaughter of the Innocents (1958) were not as successful as his prewar plays. Many of Saroyan's later plays, such as The Paris Comedy (1960), The London Comedy (1960), and Settled Out of Court (1960), premiered in Europe. Manuscripts of a number of unperformed plays are now at Stanford University with his other papers. When Ernest Hemingway learned that Saroyan had made fun of

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564-561: A right-wing protester. Before his death, he directed another three films: A Quiet Life (based on the Kenzaburō Ōe novel), Supermarket Woman , and Woman in Witness Protection . Itami frequently re-cast actors whom he had worked with on previous films. Itami died on December 20, 1997 in Tokyo after falling from the roof of the building where his office was located. On his desk was found

611-626: A series of stairs in the Hollywoodland neighborhood, one of which is named the Saroyan Stairs. Saroyan used to live in the nearby Villa Carlotta . In 1940, William Saroyan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his play The Time of Your Life , but he refused the award. In 1943, William Saroyan received the Academy Award for his screenplay for The Human Comedy , a screenplay he adapted into

658-590: A suicide note written on a word processor stating that he had been falsely accused of an affair and was taking his life to clear his name. Two days later, a tabloid magazine published a report of such an affair. However, no one in Itami's family believed that he would have taken his life or that he would be mortally embarrassed by a real or alleged affair. In 2008, a former member of the Goto-gumi yakuza group told reporter Jake Adelstein : "We set it up to stage his murder as

705-558: A suicide. We dragged him up to the rooftop and put a gun in his face. We gave him a choice: jump and you might live or stay and we'll blow your face off. He jumped. He didn't live." The attack is thought to have been due to the topic of Itami's next film, which was rumored to have been focusing on connections between the Goto-gumi and the cult-like Soka Gakkai religious group. His brother-in-law and childhood friend Kenzaburō Ōe wrote The Changeling (2000) based on their relationship. There

752-604: A writer after his mother showed him some of his father's writings. A few of his early short articles were published in Overland Monthly . His first stories appeared at the end of the 1920s. Among these was "The Broken Wheel", written under the name Sirak Goryan and published in the Armenian journal Hairenik in 1933. Many of Saroyan's stories were based on his childhood experiences among the Armenian-American fruit growers of

799-566: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . William Saroyan William Saroyan ( / s ə ˈ r ɔɪ ə n / ; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film The Human Comedy . When the studio rejected his original 240-page treatment, he turned it into

846-559: Is a Juzo Itami museum in Matsuyama . The memorial museum was designed by architect Yoshifumi Nakamura and contains a special exhibition, rotating its displays every 1–2 years, a permanent exhibition, divided up into thirteen sections to reflect the "thirteen" meaning of Itami's name, and an outdoor courtyard. It also houses a cafe named "Café Tampopo" after the film. Juzo Itami Award The Juzo Itami Award ( 伊丹十三賞 , Itami Jūzō Shō ) honors achievement and outstanding talent in any of

893-484: Is set in the fictional California town of Ithaca in the San Joaquin Valley (based on Saroyan's memories of Fresno , California), where young telegraph messenger Homer bears witness to the sorrows and joys of life during World War II . "Mrs. Sandoval," Homer said swiftly, "your son is dead. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it wasn't your son. Maybe it was somebody else. The telegram says it was Juan Domingo. But maybe

940-554: The New York Times , he described the attack, saying, "They cut very slowly; they took their time. They could have killed me if they wanted." This attack led to a government crackdown on the yakuza . His subsequent stay in a hospital inspired his next film Daibyonin (1993), a grim satire on the Japanese health system. During a showing of this film in Japan, a cinema screen was slashed by

987-446: The San Joaquin Valley or dealt with the rootlessness of the immigrant. The short story collection My Name is Aram (1940), an international bestseller, was about a young boy and the colorful characters of his immigrant family. It has been translated into many languages. As a writer, Saroyan made his breakthrough in Story magazine with "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (1934),

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1034-612: The Yokohama Film Festival . Along with his acting career, he translated several English books into Japanese, including Papa, You're Crazy by William Saroyan , The Kitchen Sink Papers: My Life as a Househusband by Mike McGrady , and The Potato Book by Myrna Davis and Truman Capote . Itami's debut as director was the movie The Funeral (Osōshiki ) in 1984, at the age of 51. This film proved popular in Japan and won many awards, including Japanese Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. However, it

1081-604: The TV Man Union television production company and produced and presented documentaries for television, which influenced his later career as a film director. He also worked as a reporter for a TV program called Afternoon Show . In 1983, Itami played the father in both Yoshimitsu Morita 's The Family Game and in Kon Ichikawa 's The Makioka Sisters , roles for which he won the Hochi Film Award and Best Supporting Actor at

1128-626: The age of 72. Half of his ashes were buried in California, and the remainder in Armenia at the Komitas Pantheon near fellow artists such as composer Aram Khachaturian , painter Martiros Saryan , and film director Sergei Parajanov . In 2008, a monument was erected in honor of Saroyan in Mashtots Avenue in Yerevan (sculptor David Yerevantsi, architects Ruben Asratyan and Levon Igityan). In 2014,

1175-496: The big-budget Anglo-American film Lord Jim . In 1965 he published a book of essays which became a hit, Yoroppa Taikutsu Nikki ("Diary of Boredom in Europe"). In 1966 he and Kazuko agreed to divorce. In 1967, when working with director Nagisa Ōshima on the set of Sing a Song of Sex ( Nihon Shunka Kō ) he met Nobuko Miyamoto . He and Miyamoto married in 1969 and he became the stepfather to her two children. Around this time, he changed his stage name to "伊丹 十三" (Itami Jūzō) with

1222-557: The city council of Bitlis approved the renaming of five streets in the historical part of the city in Southeast Turkey . One of the 5 streets was renamed to “William Saroyan Street”. In 2015 several libraries were opened in honor of William Saroyan in the city of Bitlis , Turkey . On August 31, 2018, the William Saroyan House Museum was opened in the house where Saroyan lived for the last 17 years of his life, in

1269-564: The city of Fresno , the USA . The house presents photographs from different periods of his life, drawings, and covers of his books. The museum has a separate room which features a hologram of the writer. In 1991, the USA and the USSR (series "Joint issue of USSR and USA. William Saroyan") issued stamps depicting William Saroyan. The Central Bank of Armenia issued a 10,000 Dram coin ( 100th Birth anniversary of novelist William Saroyan ) in 2008 and

1316-573: The controversial non-fiction work Death in the Afternoon , Hemingway responded: "We've seen them come and go — good ones too, better ones than you, Mr. Saroyan." One of Saroyan's most financially successful ventures was perhaps his most unlikely: the song " Come On-a My House ," which became a huge hit in 1951 for singer Rosemary Clooney . Saroyan wrote the song in 1939 with his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (who later became famous as " David Seville ,"

1363-482: The cultural history of the period on the American West Coast. He has been described in a Dickinson College news release as "one of the most prominent literary figures of the mid-20th century" and by Stephen Fry as "one of the most underrated writers of the [20th] century." Fry suggests that "he takes his place naturally alongside Hemingway , Steinbeck and Faulkner ". Kurt Vonnegut has said that Saroyan

1410-547: The entrance exam for the College of Engineering at Osaka University , Itami worked at times as a commercial designer and writer, illustrator, television reporter, and essayist. He was also the editor-in-chief for the 1980s psychoanalytic magazine Mon Oncle . In his early acting days, Itami lived in London. By the time he became a director, he spoke English near-flawlessly, although preferred to use an interpreter during interviews. Itami

1457-593: The impresario behind Alvin and the Chipmunks ), adapting the music from an Armenian folk song. Saroyan also painted. He said: "I made drawings before I learned how to write. The impulse to do so seems basic — it is both the invention and the use of language." His abstract expressionist works were exhibited by the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York City. From 1958 on, William Saroyan mainly resided in

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1504-412: The kanji "十" (ten) rather than "一" (one), and with 十三 meaning "thirteen", and worked as a character actor in film and television. In 1968 he played Saburo Ishihara, the father of Takeshi and Koji during the second season of the children's series Cometto-san . He became well known for this role in many Spanish-speaking countries, along with Yumiko Kokonoe who played the lead role. In the 1970s, he joined

1551-712: The myriad fields in which its namesake Juzo Itami worked, including essay writing, non-fiction literature , translation , film editing and directing , cooking , television , TV commercials , acting , illustration , and graphic design . The prize, worth ¥ 1   million, is presented annually by the ITM Itami Memorial Foundation in collaboration with Itami Productions. The selection committee comprises film director Masayuki Suo , architect Yoshifumi Nakamura  [ ja ] , essayist Yoko Hiramatsu  [ ja ] , and illustrator Shinbo Minami  [ ja ] . The Juzo Itami Award

1598-474: The period characteristically devote an unvarnished attention to the trials and tribulation, social malaise and despair of the Depression . He worked rapidly, hardly editing his text, and drinking and gambling away much of his earnings. I am an estranged man, said the liar: estranged from myself, from my family, my fellow man, my country, my world, my time, and my culture. I am not estranged from God, although I am

1645-504: The prestigious Matsuyama Higashi High School , where he was known for being able to read works by Arthur Rimbaud in French. Due to his poor academic record, he had to remain in the same class for two years; it was here that he became acquainted with Kenzaburō Ōe , who later married his sister. When he was unable to graduate from Matsuyama Higashi High School, he transferred to Matsuyama Minami High School and graduated thereafter. After failing

1692-675: The reverse is true. The novel was itself the basis for a 1983 musical of the same name . After his disappointment with the Human Comedy film project, he never permitted Hollywood screen adaptations of any of his novels, despite his often dire financial straits. Saroyan served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was stationed in Astoria, Queens , spending much of his time at the Lombardy Hotel in Manhattan, far from Army personnel. In 1942, he

1739-443: The smoking itself" (from Not Dying , 1963). His advice to a young writer was: "Try to learn to breathe deeply; really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell." Saroyan endeavored to create a prose style full of zest for life and seemingly impressionistic, that came to be called "Saroyanesque". Saroyan's stories of

1786-461: The telegram is wrong ... Having hired Saroyan to write the MGM screenplay, Louis B. Mayer balked at its length, but Saroyan would not compromise and was removed from directing the project. He then turned the script into a novel, publishing it just prior to the release of the film, for which he won the 1943 Academy Award for Best Story . The novel is often credited as the source for the movie, when in fact

1833-472: The times which, in their view, were properly described as devoted to division, ethnic and ideological hatred, and universal predation. He still wrote prolifically, so that one of his readers could ask "How could you write so much good stuff and still write such bad stuff?" In the novellas The Assyrian and other stories (1950) and in The Laughing Matter (1953), Saroyan mixed allegorical elements within

1880-475: The title taken from the nineteenth-century song of the same title . The protagonist — a young, starving writer who tries to survive in a Depression-ridden society — resembles the penniless writer in Knut Hamsun 's 1890 novel Hunger , but lacks the anger and nihilism of Hamsun's narrator. Through the air on the flying trapeze, his mind hummed. Amusing it was, astoundingly funny. A trapeze to God, or to nothing,

1927-576: Was "the first and still the greatest of all the American minimalists.” William Saroyan was born on August 31, 1908, in Fresno, California , to Armenak and Takuhi Saroyan, Armenian immigrants from Bitlis , Ottoman Empire . His father came to New York in 1905 and started preaching in Armenian Apostolic churches . At the age of three, after his father's death, Saroyani, along with his brother and sister,

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1974-514: Was established in March 2009, twelve years after Itami's death, with the help of his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto . Originally focusing on excellence in literary expression in odd-numbered years and visual expression in even-numbered years, its two categories were unified and its cadence changed to yearly in 2011. In 2013, journalist Akira Ikegami donated his entire monetary award to the World Food Programme . This award -related article

2021-497: Was followed by his fifth film A-Ge-Man: Tales of a Golden Geisha . Itami directed the anti- yakuza satire Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion as his sixth feature. On May 22, 1992, six days after the release of the film, Itami was attacked, beaten, and slashed on the face by five members of the Goto-gumi , a Shizuoka -based yakuza clan, who were angry at Itami's film's portrayal of gang members. In an interview with

2068-413: Was his second movie, the 1985 "noodle western" Tampopo , that earned him international exposure and acclaim. His following film A Taxing Woman (1987) was again highly successful. It won six major Japanese Academy awards and spawned a sequel A Taxing Woman's Return in 1988. The central character, played by his wife Nobuko Miyamoto who appeared in all his films, became a pop culture heroine. This

2115-546: Was placed in an orphanage in Oakland , California. He later went on to describe his experience in the orphanage in his writings. Five years later, the family reunited in Fresno, where his mother, Takuhi, had already secured work at a cannery. He continued his education on his own, supporting himself with jobs, such as working as an office manager for the San Francisco Telegraph Company. Saroyan decided to become

2162-417: Was posted to London as part of a Signal Corps film unit. He narrowly avoided a court martial when his novel, The Adventures of Wesley Jackson , was seen as advocating pacifism . Interest in Saroyan's novels declined after the war, when he was criticized for sentimentality. Freedom, brotherly love, and universal benevolence were for him basic values, but critics considered his idealism as out of step with

2209-642: Was the brother-in-law of Kenzaburō Ōe and an uncle of Hikari Ōe . Itami studied acting at an acting school called Butai Geijutsu Gakuin in Tokyo. In January 1960 he joined Daiei Film and was given the stage name Itami Ichizō ( 伊丹 一三 ) by Masaichi Nagata . In May 1960, Itami married Kazuko Kawakita , the daughter of film producer Nagamasa Kawakita . He first acted on screen in Ginza no Dora-Neko (1960). In 1961 he left Daiei and started to appear in foreign-language films such as 55 Days at Peking . In 1965 he appeared in

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