Aben Kandel; Screenwriter, Novelist, Playwright Was 96

Aben Kandel, screenwriter, novelist and playwright, has died at age 96.

Kandel died Thursday in his sleep at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, his son Stephen said Saturday.

The writer had contracts with Columbia and MGM in the early years of films, and in the 1960s wrote several horror films, including “I Was a Teenage Werewolf,” “Horrors of the Black Museum,” Joan Crawford’s last film, “Trog,” and one of Leonard Nimoy’s first, titled “Kid Monk Baroni.”

His other films included “The Iron Major,” “The Knute Rockne Story” and “Dinner at Eight” in the 1940s.

Kandel’s novels included “Vaudeville” in 1927, “Black Sun” in 1929 and “City for Conquest” in 1936, which was made into a film by Warner Brothers starring James Cagney.

His plays included “Hot Money,” which was produced on Broadway and sold to MGM.

Born in 1897 in Berlad, Romania, Kandel came to the U.S. as a toddler and was educated at New York University and its law school. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and later enlisted in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.

In addition to his son, Kandel is survived by a daughter, Lenore.