Title: Every day's a matinee
Subtitle: memoirs scribbled on a dressing room door
First published: 1975
Description: Max Wilk was the son of play agent for Warner Brothers, so Wilk grew up in the world of both movies and theater. Ultimately, during his career he ended up as a writer, working in the dying days of radio, the early days of TV, in movies, and for the stage.  This is his memoir of his career. Wilk is an engaging writer with a light touch. His career focused on comedy and it is evident in this work. 

Wilk started writing sketches for small revues and then moved up to radio. Wilk and George Axlerod wrote for many of the big ones, but the most interesting stories relate to a show with Tallulah Bankhead. From radio, he moved to early TV. Eventually he wrote a comic novel *Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the Water* which was turned into a movie with Jerry Lewis. His tales of working with Lewis are hilarious. 

During WWII, Wilk was drafted and assigned to work in a propaganda unit. Later he worked on the stage production of *This is the Army* and later the movie. 

Also addressed are his early love for the classic *Black Mask* magazine. According to Wilk, it was he who convinced his father to buy the works of Erle Stanley Gardner and Dashiel Hammett for the movies. All before he was 18.
Subjects: Hollywood, early television, WWII, radio, comedy, Authors, biography
Places: NYC, Connecticut, Hollywood
People: Max Wilk, Leland Hayward, Jerry Lewis, George Axelrod, Tallulah Bankhead, Neil Simon
Time periods: 1920-1971
LC classification: PN2287.W459 A33