Kurt Luedtke, a former newspaper executive who forged a successful second career writing Hollywood screenplays, notably for “Absence of Malice” and the Oscar-winning “Out of Africa,” died on Sunday at a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. His wife, Eleanor Luedtke, said the cause was multiple organ failure. Mr. Luedtke (pronounced LUD-key) was an accomplished reporter who rose to executive editor of The Detroit Free Press before throwing over his newspaper career and taking a stab at screenwriting. Her actions nearly ruin the businessman and prompt someone else to commit suicide. That idea became “Absence of Malice” (1981), a damning look at journalistic ethics, starring Paul Newman and Sally Field.

Source: New York Times August 13, 2020 14:48 UTC