Clyde Bruckman
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Clyde A. Bruckman (September 20, 1894 – January 4, 1955), was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such legendary comedians as Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello and Harold Lloyd.
Bruckman may be best known for his collaborations with Buster Keaton, as Bruckman co-wrote several of Keaton's most popular films, including Our Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Jr. (1924), The Navigator (1924), Seven Chances (1925), The Cameraman (1928) and The General (1927), which Bruckman also co-directed.
[edit] Suicide
After years of severe alcoholism and very little work, Bruckman landed a job as scriptwriter for Abbott and Costello's television show. Although he received credit for several scripts, these turned out to contain re-workings of material Bruckman had previously written for Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Lloyd sued Bruckman, naming Abbott & Costello's production company as a party to the suit. As a result of this action, other producers were unwilling to hire Bruckman, and he became unemployable. Bruckman took his own life in Hollywood, California with a pistol he had borrowed from Buster Keaton. Some reports claim he ended his life in the bathroom of a cafe on Santa Monica Boulevard after failing to pay for a meal, while others claim he was in a nearby phone booth. According to the phone booth version, he left a note stating that he didn't want to make a mess at home.
[edit] Trivia
The X-Files Season 3 episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" features a character, played by Peter Boyle, who foresees how other people die. Two detective characters on that episode are named Havez and Cline, after Jean Havez and Eddie Cline, two other writers who also worked with Buster Keaton.
[edit] External links
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