J. & P. Epstein and H. Koch
Julius and Philip Epstein were twin brothers, born on August 22, 1909, in New York City. They are most famous for adapting the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick's into the screenplay for Casablanca. In this collaboration, they also worked with Howard Koch, and all three writers received an Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1943. The Epstein brothers continued to collaborate on screenplays including, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Last Time I Saw Paris, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. In 1952, Philip passed away from cancer; however, Julius continued to work in the film industry, writing and producing films. Julius died in 2000.
Howard Koch was born in December 1901, in New York City. He worked with Julius and Philip Epstein on the screenplay for Casablanca and won an Academy Award for it in 1943. Koch continued to work as a writer in Hollywood on films such as The Letter, The Sea Hawk, and Letter from an Unknown Woman. He also wrote radio scripts for Orson Welles's adaptation of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds.
Excerpted from The Film Encyclopedia by Ephraim Katz
Julius & Philiip Epstein and Howard Koch are featured in Edition: A Tribute to Women in Film.
