Max Colpet

Max Colpet Biography

Max Colpet (also known as Max Kolpe, real name Max Kolpenitzky, 19 July 1905 – 2 January 1998) was an American writer, scriptwriter and lyricist of Russian-German descent.

Life

He was born to a Russian Jewish family in Knigsberg, then in East Prussia. Due to the political situation at the time, he was stateless when born. In 1914 at the start of the war his family fled to the West. In 1928, with Erik Ode, he founded the cabaret Anti in Berlin. In the 1930s he fled again, this time to Paris. His parents died during World War II in concentration camps.

On 14 August 1953 he became an American citizen, but in 1958 he moved to Munich where he lived for the rest of his life. Among other writings, he wrote for the Mnchner Lach- und Schiegesellschaft, a cabaret theatre founded by Sammy Drechsel and Dieter Hildebrandt. He had a lifelong friendship with Billy Wilder for whom he wrote five screenplays. In Los Angeles, Colpet lived in the guest house behind Wilder's Beverly Hills house, 704 North Beverly Drive, until Wilder sold the house to Dr. Harry Lehrer in 1957 and moved to Century City.

Selection of German lyrics

"Allein in einer groen Stadt" (Music: Franz Wachsmann; Singers: Lale Andersen, Marlene Dietrich)
"Bitte geh nicht fort" – "Ne me quitte pas", (Music: Jacques Brel)
"Der Boss ist nicht hier" (Music: Lotar Olias; Singer: Freddy Quinn)
"Hoppla, jetzt komm ich" (Music: Werner Richard Heymann; Singer: Hans Albers)
"Kleine Treue Nachtigall" – "Message to Martha/Michael" (Music: Burt Bacharach; Singer: Marlene Dietrich)
"Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind" – "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (Music: Pete Seeger; Singer: Marlene Dietrich)
"Der ewige Soldat" – Donovan: "Universal Soldier"; (Music and Original lyrics: Buffy Sainte-Marie; Singer: Dominique, Juliane Werding)
"Charley"?s Tante" (Musical, based on Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas; Music: Ralph Maria Siegel)
West Side Story (German lyrics of the musical by Leonard Bernstein [Music] and Stephen Sondheim [lyrics])

Selected filmography

Scampolo (1932)
The Crisis is Over (1934)
Behind the Facade (1939)

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Max_Colpet" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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