Charles Mergendahl


Charles Mergendahl was an American writer, best known for his salacious 1958 novel The Bramble Bush and its 1960 film adaptation. He also contributed original scripts and adaptations to various American television anthology series throughout the 1950s.

Biography

Early life and career

Charles H. Mergendahl, Jr. was born in 1919 in Lynn, Massachusetts, the first of five children born to Charles Henry Mergendahl and Alice Brockway—the former a math instructor at Classical High School, the latter an English teacher at Worcester High School of Commerce. Charles Jr. attended Newton High School and Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1937. He received his B.A. from Bowdoin College, graduating in 1941, and his M.A. from Boston University.
Throughout high school and college, Mergendahl had been involved in theater; in 1941, his play, My Last Duchess, was awarded 1st prize in Bowdoin College's annual one-act play competition and his next play prompted the Boston Globe to write:
Mr. Mergendahl shows promise. He has a clever manner of writing lines that bring out what is really inside of his characters. He also has the ability to create a tense situations and to draw characters in contrast. Less commendable, however, is his way of looking at the world as though everyone in it is in the wrong profession and unhappy.

Although an extended tour of duty in World War II necessarily brought his direct participation in theatre to an end, it does not appear to have adversely affected Mergendahl's productivity. In 1945, United Press reported that "during eight major engagements," Mergendahl had, by his own account, "written four novels, eight plays, and thirty short stories."
He was awarded a Bronze Star decoration for his military service in leading the first wave of Marines onto the beach during the Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific War.

Death

On April 26, 1959, during the filming of his most famous novel, Mergendahl experienced brain trauma following an accidental fall at his home on 18 Leuce Place in Glen Cove, Long Island. He was taken to Community Hospital, where he died the following day at age 40. Predeceased by his wife, Mergendahl was survived by his daughter and four siblings.

Works

Drama

The Twig My Last Duchess Me and Harry Watch for the Morning
Christmas Fantasy
Park Bench
''Standing Room Only''

Fiction

Novels

Don't Wait Up for Spring His Days are as Grass This Spring of Love It's Only Temporary The Girl Cage With Kisses Four The Bramble Bush Rage of Desire Tiger by the Tail A Strange Innocence 22 Terrace Place Call After Six
  • ''The Drums of April''

Filmography

Television

Kraft Theatre
"The Picture Window"
"Split Level" Ponds Theater
"See You on Sunday"
"The Rugged Mountains" The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
"I'll Be Waiting" Matinee Theatre
"See You on Sunday"
"Herself Alone" Star Tonight
"Three Hours Between Planes" The Man Called X
"Forged Documents"

Film

Articles

  • Hillyer, Dorothy. . The Boston Globe.
  • . The Jackson Sun. April 5, 1945. p. 16.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. . The Saturday Evening Post. pp. 16, 105–106, 108.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. "Well, Good Night". MacLean's Magazine. pp. 13, 28–30.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. . Adventure. pp. 82–89, 143.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. "Thanksgiving". Hearst's International combined with Cosmopolitan. pp. 10–11.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. "The Marvelous Adventure of Sidney J. Nealy". Hearst's International combined with Cosmopolitan. pp. 36–37, 143–148; also p. 17.
  • Mergendahl, Charles. "Mrs. Morrison's Kiss". Cosmopolitan. pp. 65–69.
  • . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 21, 1959. p. 7.
  • . The Boston Globe. April 30, 1959. p. 28.
  • . Andean Air Mail & Peruvian Times. May 1959. p. 17.

Books