---
name: "Jay Dratler"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jay-dratler"
roles: ["Screenwriter"]
born: "14 September 1911"
died: "21 September 1968"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T12:13:58.072599+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."
---

# Jay Dratler

Screenwriter. Born 14 September 1911 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 21 September 1968.

## Details

- **Work:** Screenwriter
- **Born:** 14 September 1911, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 21 September 1968

## Biography

Jay Dratler was an American screenwriter and novelist. He received screenplay credit, shared with others, on the 1944 film *Laura*, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay. He also wrote the screenplay for *Call Northside 777* (1948), which won an Edgar Allan Poe Award, and his novel *The Pitfall* (1947) was the basis for the 1948 film of the same name. Other screenwriting credits include *The Dark Corner* (1946) and *Impact* (1949).

Dratler attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1920s, then studied at the Sorbonne in France and the University of Vienna, becoming fluent in French and German. After returning to the United States in 1932, he worked as an editor and translator in New York before moving to Hollywood. He wrote six novels and numerous screenplays and television scripts, including episodes of *The Addams Family* (1964) and *Perry Mason*.

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

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Laura* (1944), Fi1m 86, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/laura.md)

## Also known for

- *The Addams Family* (1964), Writer
- *Call Northside 777* (1948), Screenplay
- *Pitfall* (1948), Novel
- *The Dark Corner* (1946), Screenplay
- *Impact* (1949), Story, Writer

---
© 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/jay-dratler