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Don Mankiewicz dies at 93

Writer Don Mankiewicz, nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay of “I Want to Live!”died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, friends and the two loves of his life, his wife Carol and his dog, Valentina.
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April 29, 2015

Writer Don Mankiewicz, nominated  for an Oscar for his screenplay of “I  Want to Live!”died peacefully at home,  surrounded by family, friends and the  two loves of his life, his wife Carol and  his dog, Valentina. The cause of death  was congestive heart failure. He was  93 years old.

In television, Mankiewicz was best  known for writing the pilot episodes  of Ironside and Marcus Welby, M.D.  and the “Court Martial” episode of the  original Star Trek series. His novels  include “See HowThey Run,”“Trial”and  “It Only HurtsAMinute.”

After graduating Columbia  University in 1942, Mankiewicz joined  the Army. He served in Europe in  military intelligence and fought in the  Battle of the Bulge.

A life-long Democrat, Mankiewicz  was an elected delegate to the New  York State Constitutional Convention in  1967, and a delegate to the Democratic  National Convention in 1968. He  served multiple terms on the Board of  the Writers Guild of America West, and  received the Guild’s Morgan Cox Award  in 2008.

The oldest child of screenwriter  Herman J. Mankiewicz and Sara  Aaronson, Mankiewicz was predeceased  by his beloved siblings,  Frank (2014) and Johanna (1974.)

He is survived by his wife Carol,  daughters Jan Diaz (Michael), Sandy  Perez (Richard) and Miracle Herrera  (Juan Carlos), and, from his first  marriage to Ilene Korsen, his son John  (Katie Bergin) and daughter Jane.

Grandchildren are Molly, Jack, Sara and  Rebecca.

The family would like to thank  the amazing Dr. Andrew Lee, Ulanda  Lee, old pal Dr. Melvin Hershkowitz,  Viviane Moekle, who brought Carol  and Don together, guardian angels  the Parkinsons, financial analyst  Diane Sabourin, long-time friends and  traveling companions Karen and Cary  Korobkin and Don’s project  manager  Jill Holland. And, of course, once more,  Valentina. Because she’s the dog.

Services will be private. In lieu  of flowers, donations can be made  to the Special Olympics of Southern  California, 1600 Forbes Way, Suite  200, Long Beach, Ca. 90810, and Smile  Train, 41 Madison Ave., 28th Floor, NY,  NY, 10010.

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