Fun Facts Friday: Bella Cohen Spewack

Bella Cohen Spewack (25 March, 1899 – 27 April, 1990) was a journalist, screenwriter and playwright. Together with her husband, Samuel Spewack, she wrote many beloved films and plays.

Books by Bella Cohen Spewack*

Fun Facts about Bella Cohen Spewack:

1. Bella Cohen was born in Bucharest, Romania as the older of three children. She emigrated with her family to Manhattan.
2. After graduating from Washington Irving High School, Ms. Cohen worked as a journalist. This is where she met her future husband.
3. The couple married in 1922 and spent the next four years as news correspondents in Moscow, Russia.
4. While in Berlin (1922), Mrs. Spewack wrote her memoir Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side, published posthumously in 1995. She also wrote short stories, about 40 of which were published in a book called Best Short Stories of 1925.
5. After coming back to the US, and settling in New Hope, PA Bella and Sam Spewack wrote a bunch of successful comedies for stage and screen.
6. The couple’s most successful works were the Cole Porter musicals Leave It To Me! (1938), and Kiss Me Kate (1948). The latter earning them a Tony.
7. It is said that Bella and Samuel separated at the time of writing Kiss Me Kate, but reunited through their work and remained married.
   The book follows a separated couple, actors, who use the stage to work out their issues.
8. Mrs. Spewack was very involved in the theatrical and intellectual society. Her correspondence partners included George and Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman, Thornton Wilder, Mary Martin, Lillian Hellman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others.
9. Bella Cohen Spewack was heavily involved in the Girl Scouts, and claimed that she came up with the idea of selling cookies to raise revenue.
10. The couple founded a sports club in Ramat Gan, Israel, for child victims of poliomyelitis.

Books by Bella Cohen Spewack*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on b