Jerome Coopersmith is an American dramatist who is best known for his work as a screenplay writer. Born in New York City, Coopersmith got his start in the theatre industry at 16 when he worked as an office boy at the sherbet Theatrical Company. Coopersmith fought in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart. Upon his return from the war, Coopersmith completed his college studies at New York University.
Coopersmith began his first job in television writing for quiz shows and historical programs. He landed his first big break writing for a series called Johnny Jupiter. This led to Coopersmith writing episodes for many popular TV series throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, Coopersmith became one of the lead writers for Hawaii Five-0 and spent the next eight years writing for the show. In the 1970s and 1980s, Coopersmith also wrote screenplays for TV movies and specials.
In the 1960s, Coopersmith branched out into writing for the stage. His first work was a play entitled Eleanor, a biography of the early life of Eleanor Roosevelt. His next piece was Baker Street, a musical based on the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It debuted on Broadway in 1965 and was directed by Hal Prince. As Baker Street was running, Coopersmith teamed up with Bock and Harnick on The Apple Tree, which premiered on Broadway in 1967. Other popular works from Coopersmith include Mata Hari, an anti-war play which was produced at the time of the Vietnam War and The Other Side, a play about the controversial relationship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over spiritualism.
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