Herman Raucher, Oscar-nominated Summer of ’42 screenwriter, dies at 95

Herman Raucher, best-selling author and Oscar-nominated screenwriter for the 1971 film Summer of ’42, died at the age of 95. The news was confirmed by her daughter Jenny to Hollywood Reporter earlier today (January 4). The writer took his last breath at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut and died due to natural causes on Thursday. 

Tracing Herman Raucher’s origin

Raucher, who was born on April 13, 1928, grew up in Brooklyn and attended Erasmus High School and NYU. He began his writing career with one-hour dramas for prestigious network anthology series including Studio One, Goodyear Playhouse, and The Alcoa Hour. Meanwhile, he was working for Walt Disney, whose firm was transitioning from animated pictures to live-action projects. 

Raucher remained a creative director and board member of several New York advertising agencies before deciding to concentrate on his writing, which included the 1962 Broadway comedy Harold, starring Anthony Perkins and Don Adams, as well as six novels, including A Glimpse of Tiger, There Should Have Been Castles, and Maynard's House. 

Herman Raucher’s career trajectory 

Raucher, who began his career in live television, wrote screenplays for two Anthony Newley films: Sweet November (1968), directed by Robert Ellis Miller and Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969). 

While the Robert Mulligan-directed Summer of '42 (1971) was still in postproduction, someone suggested Raucher write a book to help publicise the Warner Bros. film, which featured Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, and Jerry Houser. It took Raucher three or four weeks in a "stream of consciousness" to finish the book, which became a national best-seller before the film was shown in theatres. 

Both the film and the book are based on events that occurred to him when he was 14 years old during a summer in Nantucket. Raucher made a name for himself with the revolutionary, racially heated Watermelon Man (1970), directed by Melvin Van Peebles, his sole studio feature.

Raucher is survived by his grandchildren, Samantha and Jamie, as well as another daughter, Jacqueline. Mary Kathryn, his 42-year-old wife, passed away in 2002. 

(with inputs from ANI)