Biography
Arnold Perl (1914–1971) was an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and television writer. He briefly attended Cornell University and began his career writing for radio and television series including The Big Story, Naked City and East Side/West Side. He created the series N.Y.P.D. with David Susskind.
Perl first gained recognition in the mid-1950s with the stage production The World of Sholom Aleichem, a collection of one-act plays based on the works of Sholem Aleichem. He also wrote the play Tevye and his Daughters. His adaptations and permissions underpinned the musical Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
Perl co-wrote the screenplay for Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970). At the time of his death he was collaborating with James Baldwin on a Malcolm X project; his script was later reworked by Spike Lee for the 1992 film Malcolm X, for which Perl received a posthumous screenwriting credit. He was nominated posthumously for an Academy Award for the 1972 documentary Malcolm X.
