In Remembrance: Joseph Stefano

     Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter who adapted the novel Psycho for director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller, has passed away on August 25, 2006 in Thousand Oaks, CA. He was 84.

     Born on May 5, 1922 in Philadelphia, PA, Stefano dropped out of high school two weeks before graduation to move to New York with the aspiration of becoming an entertainer. In Manhattan, Stefano worked as a pianist and song writer and toured with a modern dance troupe.

     Stefano’s first television scripting job was working on the Ted Mack Family Hour. He also wrote for the anthology series Playhouse 90 and Startime. His first feature film script was for director Martin Ritt’s The Black Orchid (1958).

     In 1960, Bloch relocated to Hollywood when he was hired by Twentieth Century Fox. One of his first assignments paired him with director Alfred Hitchcock in adapting Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho to the big screen. It was Bloch’s idea to deviate from the book’s original storyline, allowing the film to build to what would become one of the most famous moments in film history. Where the book opened with the arrival of Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, at the Bates Motel and her subsequent murder, Stefano crafted a backstory to explain why Marion was stopping at the isolated motel. By letting the audience learn more about the character and begin to identify with her, the shock of her murder in the famed shower scene just fifteen minutes into the film became greatly enhanced.

     Following the success of Psycho, Hitchcock approached Stefano to script both The Birds and Marnie (1964), but he declined, instead wanting to work on The Outer Limits television series.

     Stefano’s script for The Ghost Of Sierra De Cobre (1964) originally started life as a pilot for a new television series. When it wasn’t picked up by any network, it received a theatrical release overseas. The film marked the only time Stefano directed a film, stepping in when the movie’s original director Robert Stevens fell ill.

     Stefano also co-wrote the comedy Futz! and scripted the thriller Eye Of The Cat (both 1969), the horror film The Kindred (1987), the thriller Blackout (1988) and the drama Two Bits (1995).

     His screenplay for Psycho was reused in 1998 for director Gus Van Sant’s shot for shot remake of the film.