Introduction
Mardik Martin (September 16, 1934 – September 11, 2019) was an American screenwriter of Armenian descent. He was born in Iran and raised in Iraq.
Biography
Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country to avoid the draft and arrived in New York City in a penniless state. In his book on the New Hollywood, Peter Biskind states that Martin had to wash dishes to pay his way through NYU, where he met fellow student Martin Scorsese in 1961. The two formed a close friendship and worked together on Scorsese's early projects such as It's Not Just You, Murray! and the semi-autobiographical Season of the Witch, which ultimately became Mean Streets. According to Biskind, "The two young men sat in Martin's Plymouth Valiant and wrote. In the winter, in the cold and snow." Martin also shared writing credits on the Scorsese films New York, New York and Raging Bull.
In 2014, Martin co-wrote the screenplay of the German film The Cut, which won an award at the Venice Film Festival (La Biennale).
Martin died of undisclosed causes on September 11, 2019, five days short of his 85th birthday.
Awards
In 2012, Martin was honored by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute "for the mastery of his pen on iconic American films" Mean Streets and Raging Bull.