Screenwriters are authors who write the screenplays from which films are made. Many of them also work as "script doctors," attempting to change scripts to suit directors or studios; for instance studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak. Script-doctoring can be quite lucrative, especially for the better known writers; David Mamet and John Sayles, for instance, fund the movies they direct themselves, usually from their own screenplays, by writing and doctoring scripts for others.
... Perelman[?], humorist, author
February 4 - MacKinlay Kantor[?], historian (+ 1977)
February 5 - Walter Gross[?], cabaretist (+ 1989)
February 7 - Ernst Ginsberg[?], ...