I know that the lancaster character was suppose to be Walter Winchell. But I have heard that Sidney Falco's character is based on somebody too but I do not remember who it was I thought is was Elvis's agent Col Tom Parker, but I am not sure. Has anyone heard who Falco was based on?
sharemarble I wish I could help you on this question because it is a good one and deserves an answer if it is true. I hope someone can help us out. When TCM showed it it was mentioned that Burt Lancaster's character was based on Walter Winchell but nothing about Tony's Character.
shareHi thanks for getting back to me. I found out since I posted that who it was suppose to be. don't laugh, but it was Col Tom Parker. I knew it was someone strange.
shareThanks for sharing marble and congratulations on a great find.
shareYW. I know it sounds weird. But after I read about Parker I can see why. I knew it was someone that was surprising but I could not figure out who.
shareI actually heard somewhere that Sidney's character was based on Sidney Skolsky but I'm not sure if thats true.
shareI believe I even heard it on TMC one day that it was Parker also. But you might be right.
shareMost serious clue seems to be Curt Weinberg, a former collaborator of Walter Winchell. I made a note of this when I read his Variety obit, but can't seem to find the original right now.
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Most serious clue seems to be Curt Weinberg, a former collaborator of Walter Winchell. I made a note of this when I read his Variety obit, but can't seem to find the original right now.
I am having problem posting this, well here I go again, You are right here is the link. Thanks! Mystery solved. I found it in the Times.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E3DD1739F931A35752C 1A965948260
Thank YOU for the link. My own search, yesterday, on the Times did not lead me to the Weinberg obit. A much more interesting question in my mind would be: Who wrote most of the script of SWEET SMELL - Odets or Lehman? I guess the heavy, rather dated, dramatic stuff would come from Odets, and the snappy dialogue from Lehman, but it's just a guess…and I have not read the original story since almost 30 years.
share"It was based on his own experiences working as an assistant to Irving Hoffman, a prominent New York press agent and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter. Hoffman subsequently did not speak to Lehman for a year and a half. Hoffman then wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter speculating that Lehman would make a good screenwriter, and within a week Paramount called Lehman, inviting him to Los Angeles for talks. Lehman went on to forge a notable screenwriting career in Hollywood, writing Executive Suite, Sabrina and The King and I."
- from the Wikipedia entry for "Sweet Smell of Success".
Good investigative work. Thanks to the inquiry by marble and the knowledge shared by mcpherson43 and the great research by marble the mystery is solved. Thanks for sharing and once again well done!
shareAnuj is right, Sidney is based on Irving Hoffman, chief press agent who Ernest Lehman, author of the novel, had worked for. When Lehman showed the manuscript to him, Hoffman said,"Ernie, how can you do this to me? Everybody's going to think I'm Sidney! Everybody's going to think Hunsecker is Winchell! You have things in here that only somebody who's close to Winchell would know!"
--From Vanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood, Penguin Books, 2008. Lots of great behind-the-scenes articles in there.
But where did this Col. Tom Parker business come from? The short story by Lehman that he based his novelette on (Hunsecker Fights the World) was published by Collier's magazine in 1948, well before Tom Parker promoted Elvis.