Jerry Wald (September 16 1911 - July 13 1962) was an Academy Award-winning American producer and screenwriter for motion pictures and radio shows.
Born Jerome Irving Wald in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were active in the business.
Wald produced and wrote many films between the 1940s and 1960s including On Your Toes (in collaboration with playwright Lawrence Riley), Sons and Lovers, The Sound and the Fury, Perfect Strangers, In Love and War, Peyton Place, Return to Peyton Place, An Affair to Remember, Two Tickets to Broadway, The Glass Menagerie, The Blue Veil, From Here to Eternity, Always Leave Them Laughing, Key Largo, Mildred Pierce, Johnny Belinda, Destination Tokyo, Across the Pacific, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Navy Blues, The Road to Frisco, The Roaring Twenties, and Stars Over Broadway. He also produced the Academy Awards telecast twice.
He was nominated for Academy Awards for Mildred Pierce, Johnny Belinda, Peyton Place, and Sons and Lovers; he won the Oscar for From Here to Eternity.
He died, aged 50, at home in Beverly Hills, California from a heart attack.
Brother of Malvin Wald.
Father of Andrew Wald.
Wald has been said to be the basis for the character of Sammy Glick in Budd Schulberg's novel, "What Makes Sammy Run?"
Father of Robert Wald (II)
Married Constance M. Polan, the sister of agent and asst. producer Baron Reynolds Polan. Connie was best friends with Audrey Hepburn.
