Herman J. Mankiewicz was widely regarded as one of the most brilliant wits ever to work in Hollywood. During his early years there, his presence was in demand at the homes of some of America's most famous and powerful people. In addition, he was regarded as a master of dialogue and was often called upon to fix other writers' screenplays. Despite all this, his own luster from his masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941) was tarnished by a continuing battle over how much of the screenplay he actually wrote.

Herman Jacob Mankiewicz was born in New York City. He was a bookish, introspective child who, despite his intelligence, was never able to win approval from his demanding father. Franz Mankiewicz, for many years an editor of a German-language newspaper, was constantly belittling his son's achievements. Although Herman was supposed to have gained his wit from his mother, she never had as...