- Born
- Died
- Peter Viertel, a WWII veteran whose first novel was published to glowing reviews when he was only 18, was born of parents of the European intelligentsia, refugees from Adolf Hitler's Europe. Brought up in Hollywood, in a household where Greta Garbo (his mother's closest friend), Bertolt Brecht Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann and Franz Werfel were constant guests, young Peter yearned to be an American. In need of money to be able to continue writing his novels and to support his first wife, Jigee, Viertel turned to writing scripts for Hollywood, where he soon found himself in the orbit of John Huston, the legendary director of The Maltese Falcon (1941). Peter died in Marbella, Spain, nineteen days following the death of his second wife, actress Deborah Kerr.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesDeborah Kerr(July 23, 1960 - October 16, 2007) (her death)Virginia Ray(February 5, 1943 - January 31, 1960) (her death, 1 child)
- Parents
- Died 20 days after the death of his wife, actress Deborah Kerr. It was said that her death affected him immensely.
- His first wife had been married to writer Budd Schulberg.
- Viertel is also, some have alleged, the model for the character played by Robert Redford in The Way We Were (1973), whilst the Barbra Streisand character in the same film is said to be based on his first wife, Jigee.
- His 1950s novel, "White Hunter, Black Heart" is, by his own admission, a thinly-disguised account of his adventures whilst working uncredited on the script of The African Queen (1951), and, in White Hunter Black Heart (1990), the 1990 film version, Jeff Fahey plays "Peter Verrill", an obvious self-portrait.
- Son of writer/actress Salka Viertel and writer Berthold Viertel.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
