Mark John Hellinger (March 21, 1903 – December 21, 1947) was an American journalist, theatre columnist and film producer. Biography Early life Hellinger was born into the Orthodox Jewish family of Mildred "Millie" (nee Fitch) and Pol Hellinger in New York City, but in later life he became a non-practicing Jew. When he was 15, he organized a student strike at Townsend Harris High School and was expelled for his actions. This proved to be the end of his formal education. In 1921, Hellinger began working as a waiter and cashier at a Greenwich Village nightclub in order to meet theatre people. He later was employed by Lane Bryant to write direct mail advertising for clothing for larger and pregnant women. Journalist The following year he began his journalistic career as a reporter for Zit's Weekly, a theatrical publication, where he remained for 18 months. In 1923, Hellinger moved to the city desk of the New York Daily News. He wrote the play None Are So Blind (1923). Short story writer In July 1925, he was assigned About Town, a Sunday column his editors intended him to fill with news and gossip about Broadway theatre. Instead, he filled the space with short stories in the style of O. Henry. When his columns drew a considerable amount of fan mail, he was permitted to continue in this vein. Three years later he graduated to a daily feature called Behind the News. He numbered such personalities as Walter Winchell, Florenz Ziegfeld, Texas Guinan, Dutch Schultz, and Legs Diamond among his friends. In November 1929, Hellinger moved to the New York Daily Mirror. While continuing to write daily and Sunday columns, he contributed sketches to the Ziegfeld Follies, wrote plays, published magazine articles, produced two collections of short stories, Moon Over Broadway (1931) and The Ten Million (1934), and co-wrote the screenplay for Broadway Bill with Robert Riskin. Some films were based on his works including Justice for Sale (1932), the short I Know Everybody and Everybody's Racket (1934), Broadway Bill (1934), and Walking Down Broadway (1938). Hollywood Writer By 1937, Hellinger was a syndicated columnist featured in 174 newspapers. That same year he was hired as a writer/producer by Jack L. Warner. He worked on the story for Racket Busters (1938) starring Humphrey Bogart and Comet Over Broadway (1938) and provided the story for the 1939 Raoul Walsh gangster film The Roaring