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{{Short description|Austrian-American novelist and screenwriter}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Frederick Kohner
| image =
| imagesize =
| birth_name = Friedrich Kohner
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|9|25}}
| birth_place = [[Teplice|Teplice-Šanov]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|7|7|1905|9|25}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation = Novelist, screenwriter
| nationality = American
| children = [[Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman]]
| relatives = [[Paul Kohner]] (brother)<br />[[Lupita Tovar]] (sister-in-law)
}}

'''Friedrich Kohner''' (September 25, 1905 – July 7, 1986), credited professionally as Frederick Kohner, was an [[Austrians|Austrian]]-born novelist and screenwriter, both in Germany and the U.S.

He is best known for having created the "[[Gidget]]" novels, which inspired a series of movies, two television series, three [[telemovie]]s and a feature-length animated film.<ref>{{cite web | title=THE NOVEL ORIGINS OF 'GIDGET' | website=Los Angeles Times | date=1986-09-13 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-13-ca-11523-story.html | access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref> He based the title character on his daughter, [[Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman]].<ref>{{cite web | title=The surf classic 'Gidget' is 60 this year, and it remains the 'absolute ultimate' | website=Los Angeles Times | date=2019-07-11 | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-classic-hollywood-gidget-turns-60-story.html | access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cometoverhollywood.com/2015/09/02/it-was-my-fathers-success-an-interview-with-the-real-gidget/|title="It was my father's success": An interview with the real "Gidget"|date=September 2, 2015}}</ref>

== Life ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2023}}
Kohner was born on September 25, 1905, in [[Teplice|Teplice-Šanov]], [[Bohemia]], [[Austria-Hungary]]. After studying in [[Vienna]] and [[Paris]], Kohner wrote his thesis, "''Film ist Dichtung''" ("Film is Poetry"). Subsequently, he worked as a journalist in [[Prague]] and [[Berlin]]. During 1929/1930 he was employed as a movie correspondent for German newspapers in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. While there, he took a minor role in [[Lewis Milestone]]'s 1930 anti-war film ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]''.

Returning to Berlin in 1930, Kohner began to work for the German film industry, starting with the comedy ''Seitensprünge'' - a young [[Billy Wilder]] was also a screenwriter on the project - where Kohner was assistant producer to [[Steve Sekely|István Székély]]. In 1932/33 Kohner wrote or co-wrote three screenplays for his brother, [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] producer [[Paul Kohner]]. As a [[Jew]], he was increasingly isolated within the industry by the worsening political climate in [[Germany]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.palipost.com/gidget-celebrates-fathers-new-novel-at-village-books/|title='Gidget' Celebrates Father's New Novel At Village Books|date=May 19, 2011|website=Palisadian Post}}</ref> In 1934, director [[Robert Siodmak]], who had fled to Paris after completing ''[[The Burning Secret|Brennendes Geheimnis]]'', made it possible for Kohner to contribute to the screenplay for ''[[The Crisis is Over|La crise est finie]]''. During the [[Nazi]] era, Kohner was not credited for his contributions to the screenplay ''Viktoria'', an adaption of a novel by [[Knut Hamsun]]. In July 1936, Kohner, his wife Fritzi and their four-year-old daughter Ruth, emigrated to the U.S..

From the time he established himself in Hollywood (mostly uncredited work for developing screenplays and treatments), he went by the Americanized name of Frederick Kohner. For his contribution to the 1938 [[Deanna Durbin]] comedy ''[[Mad About Music]]'', Kohner received an [[Academy Award]] nomination.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBvMFuHle2kC&q=Frederick+Kohner+academy+award&pg=PA32|title=Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969|first=Thomas|last=Lisanti|date=May 7, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476601427|via=Google Books}}</ref>

From 1939 onward, he worked only sporadically writing screenplays; among them was ''[[The Men in Her Life]]'' with [[Loretta Young]] and [[Conrad Veidt]]. The bulk of his work in the U.S. concentrated on developing stories for other screenwriters.<ref name="auto"/>

Kohner died on July 7, 1986, in [[Los Angeles, California]], aged 80.

==Selected filmography==
* ''[[The Burning Secret]]'' (1933)
* ''[[The Crisis is Over]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Victoria (1935 film)|Victoria]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Tahiti Honey]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Lake Placid Serenade]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Love, Dance and a Thousand Songs]]'' (1955)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0463430}}
*{{find a Grave|grid=7919}}

{{Gidget}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohner, Frederick}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States]]
[[Category:Writers from Greater Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Jewish American novelists]]
[[Category:Jewish American screenwriters]]
[[Category:People from Teplice]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:Kohner family]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]

Frederick Kohner - Revision history

imported>Natg 19: Disambiguating links to Universal Studios (link changed to Universal Pictures) using DisamAssist.