Leo Calvin Rosten (April 11, 1908–February 19, 1997) was born on 11 April 1908 in Lodz, Russian Empire (now Poland) and died on 19 February 1997 in New York. He was a teacher, academic and humorist best remembered for his stories about the night-school "prodigy" Hyman Kaplan (first published in The New Yorker in the 1930s, and later reprinted in two volumes—The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N and The Return of H*Y*M*A*N Italic textK*A*P*L*A*N, under the pseudonym Leonard Q. Ross). April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry, and fiction. ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. ...

He is also well-known for his encyclopedic volume The Joys of Yiddish (1968), a guide to the Yiddish language and to Jewish culture (as well as a source for anecdotes and Jewish humor). It was followed by "O Kaplan! My Kaplan!" 1976, and Hooray for Yiddish! (1982) , a humorus lexicon of the American language as influenced by Jewish culture. The Joys of Yiddish is a lexicon of common words and phrases in the Yiddish language, primarily focusing on those words that had become known to speakers of American English due to the influence of American Jews. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... An anecdote is a brief tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. ... Jewish humor is the long tradition of humor in Judaism dating back to the Torah and the Midrash, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal, self-deprecating and often anecdotal humor originating in Eastern Europe and which took root in the United States over the last hundred...

Among his other works is a large volume titled Leo Rosten's Treasury of Jewish Quotations. Among his own many quotations are: "A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead," "Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad," "Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense," "We see things as we are, not as they are."

Rosten was a successful screenwriter. He wrote the story for The Dark Corner, a film noir starring Mark Stevens; and Lured, the Douglas Sirk-directed period drama with Lucille Ball. He is listed as one of the writers for "Captain Newman, M.D." adapted from his novel of the same title. Other films: Mechanized Patrolling (1943) (as Leonard Q. Ross), They Got Me Covered" (1943) (story) (as Leonard Q. Ross), All Through the Night" (1942) (story) (as Leonard Q. Ross), The Conspirators (1944) (screenplay), The Velvet Touch (1948), Sleep, My Love (1948) (novel) (screenplay), Double Dynamite (1951) (story), Walk East on Beacon (1952), and "Mister Cory (1957) (story). The Dark Corner (1946) Ex con turned Private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. ... This still from The Big Combo (1955) demonstrates the visual style of film noir at its most extreme. ... Douglas Sirk - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an iconic American actress, comedian and star of the landmark sitcom I Love Lucy, a four time Emmy Award winner (awarded 1953, 1956, 1967, 1968) and charter member of the Television Hall of Fame. ... The fourth single from Cyndi Lauper´s debut album, She´s So Unusual, peaked at #5 on Billboard Hot 100, and it´s one of the most recognized Lauper´s ballads. ... Double Dynamite is a surreally fascinating 1951 movie comedy featuring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra. ... Mister Cory is a 1957 film by Blake Edwards. ...

At a tribute dinner to fellow funnyman W. C. Fields, a youngish and reportedly nervous Rosten came up with the unscripted remark about the latter, that "anyone who hates babies and dogs can't be all bad!" This statement is often misattributed to Fields himself. W.C. Fields in a scene from The Bank Dick W. C. Fields W. C. Fields (April 9, 1879 – December 25, 1946) was an American comedian and actor. ...

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Leo Rosten