The Oscar-winning writer was born the son of a livery stable owner on Manhattan's Lower East Side on Aug. 22, 1909. Julius with his twin brother Philip (who died in 1952) produced 50 screenplay gems in a career that spanned 60 years.
"Casablanca" brought the brothers and Howard Koch a shared Oscar for the screenplay. The 1942 Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman romantic drama also won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Epstein, revered for his wit, later commented that the screenplay contained "a great deal of corn, more corn than in the states of Kansas and Iowa combined. But when corn works, there's nothing better."
Casablanca has achieved cult status due largely to the Epsteins' unforgettable dialogue, which includes such gems as "Here's looking at you, kid," "We'll always have Paris," and "Round up the usual suspects."
Epstein was a boxer in college and originally planned to be a sportswriter, but had trouble finding work after his graduation in 1931 in the midst of the Depression. He came to Los Angeles in 1933 to ghostwrite a script and by 1935 was placed under contract with Warner Bros.
The Epstein brothers were very much in demand in the years preceding World War II, and "Casablanca" came out of one of their typical writing assignments for the studio. They were asked to write a script based on a short story called "Everybody Comes to Rick's."
The movie, now considered by movie buffs to be one of the finest films ever made. A classic that happened to be the biggest accident of all because: Bogart didn’t want to do it. Bergman was second choice after Ann Sheridon. Director, Michael Curtiz did not have any faith in the project, thinking it would be just a B grade movie. The final scene was not decided upon until the night before shooting… after consultation with Bogart.
Yet despite their success, the brothers' tenure was tumultuous at Warner Bros. Epstein frequently disparaged "Casablanca" and most of the films he wrote during his 17-year stint there.
During the 1940s and 1950s when government investigators were trying to root out alleged communists in Hollywood, Epstein, a critic of communism, was asked if ever belonged to a subversive organisation, "Yes," he replied. "Warner Bros."
Eptein’s other film credits include "The Strawberry Blonde," “The Man Who Came to Dinner," "Four Daughters," and "Pete 'n' Tillie," although fine films, none can compare to the words uttered in Casablanca.
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