---
name: "Arnold Perl"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/arnold-perl"
fi1m_id: "arnold-perl"
imdb_id: "nm0674135"
tmdb_id: 19743
wikidata_id: "Q3623615"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "14 April 1914"
died: "11 December 1971"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T05:26:25.850801+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Arnold Perl

## Identity

Arnold Perl

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/arnold-perl
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** arnold-perl
- **IMDb ID:** nm0674135
- **TMDB ID:** 19743
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3623615
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Perl, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3623615, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674135/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19743

Writer. Born 14 April 1914 in New York City. Died 11 December 1971.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 14 April 1914, New York City
- **Died:** 11 December 1971
- **Active:** 1971–1992
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 77 (1), 1990s 79 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Perl, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3623615, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674135/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19743

## Biography

Arnold Perl (1914–1971) was an American playwright, screenwriter and television writer. Born in New York City, he briefly attended Cornell University before writing for radio and early television series including *The Big Story* and *Naked City*.

In the mid-1950s he adapted Sholem Aleichem stories for the stage in *The World of Sholom Aleichem* and wrote the play *Tevye and His Seven Daughters*; these works provided the basis for his adaptation credit on the film *Fiddler on the Roof* (1971). He also wrote episodes of *East Side/West Side* and created the series *N.Y.P.D.* (1967–1969) with David Susskind.

Perl co-wrote the screenplay for *Cotton Comes to Harlem* (1970). He worked on an unproduced biographical script about Malcolm X with James Baldwin; elements of his draft were used for the 1992 film *Malcolm X* directed by Spike Lee. He directed the 1972 documentary *Malcolm X*, for which he received a posthumous Academy Award nomination. Perl died in Manhattan on 11 December 1971.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, broadwayworld.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Malcolm X* (1992), Fi1m 79, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md)
- *Fiddler on the Roof* (1971), Fi1m 77, Adaptation — [page](https://film.one/film/fiddler-on-the-roof.md)

## Complete filmography (16)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Malcolm X* (1992), Screenplay — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md)
- *Malcolm X* (1972), Director, Associate Producer, Screenstory
- *Fiddler on the Roof* (1971), Adaptation — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/fiddler-on-the-roof.md)
- *The Sheriff* (1971), Writer
- *Cotton Comes to Harlem* (1970), Screenplay
- *Tevye and His Seven Daughters* (1968), Novel
- *N.Y.P.D.* (1967), series, Creator
- *Die höhere Schule* (1964), Writer
- *Espionage* (1963), series, Writer
- *East Side/West Side* (1963), series, Writer, Producer
- *Gold for the Caesars* (1963), Writer
- *The Nurses* (1962), series, Writer
- *Jazz on a Summer's Day* (1960), as Continuity · Writer
- *The World of Sholom Aleichem* (1959), Writer
- *Deadline* (1959), series, Producer, Screenplay
- *The Big Story* (1949), series, Teleplay

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1973: Best Documentary Feature Film (nominated), for *Malcolm X*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/arnold-perl