Eleanor Perry
| Eleanor Perry | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eleanor Rosenfeld 1914 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 14, 1981 (aged 66–67) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Alma mater | Western Reserve University |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, novelist |
| Spouse(s) | Leo G. Bayer (m. 19??; div. 19??) Frank Perry (m. 1958; div. 1971) |
| Children | William Bayer |
Eleanor Perry (née Rosenfeld; nom-de-plume Oliver Weld Bayer, 1914 – March 14, 1981), born in Cleveland, Ohio, was a screenwriter and author who was a part of a team with her then-husband film director Frank Perry. She won an Emmy award for her television screenplay adaptation of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. The Perry duo was responsible for 1968's The Swimmer starring Burt Lancaster, Diary of a Mad Housewife starring Carrie Snodgrass and the Academy Award-nominated independent film, David and Lisa among other films. Eleanor Perry was also a journalist and novelist who penned Blue Pages, a semi-autobiographical novel about her time writing screenplays in Hollywood. Prior to working with Frank Perry, Eleanor had published numerous articles, plays and novels including Third Best Sport which was produced on Broadway.
Film critic Charles Champlin fondly remembered Perry as the feminist who "discovered a ladder and a can of spray paint" to protest, deface and demonstrate her distaste for Federico Fellini's sexist "she-wolf" Roma posters at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. The outspoken Eleanor Perry was an advocate for women's rights and screenwriters' recognition, often criticizing the film industry.
Born and raised to a Jewish family in Cleveland, Ohio, she attended Western Reserve University, where she wrote for the college's literary magazine. Together with her first husband, attorney Leo G. Bayer, she wrote a series of suspense novels, including Paper Chase (1942), made into the movie Dangerous Partners in 1945. After earning a master's degree in psychiatric social work, she began to write plays, enjoying Broadway success in 1958 with Third Best Sport, a collaboration with her husband. The two were divorced shortly after.
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