Mardik Martin

• Native Name — Մարդիկ Մարտին • Born — 16 September 1934 • Birthplace — Abadan, Khuzestan, Persia (present-day Iran) • Died — 11 September 2019 • Place of death — Studio City, California, U.S. • Citizenship — United States • Education — New York University • Occupation — Screenwriter • Years Active — 1964-2014 • Notable Works — Mean Streets New York, New York Raging Bull

Martin was born in Abadan, Iran to ethnic Armenian parents Vartan and Hranush Martin, who had emigrated there as refugees from the Armenian genocide. They later moved to Baghdad, Iraq. Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country shortly before turning 18 to avoid the draft, and arrived in New York City in a penniless state. Martin attended NYU, where he met fellow student Martin Scorsese in 1961. He graduated with a Master's Degree in screenwriting in 1968.

Martin and Scorsese 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 Hollywood biographer Peter 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 (with Earl Mac Rauch) and Raging Bull (with Paul Schrader). In 2012, Martin was honored by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute "for the mastery of his pen on iconic American films" such as Mean Streets and Raging Bull. In 2014, Martin co-wrote the screenplay of the German drama The Cut, which won a special mention by the Young Jury Members of the Vittorio Veneto Film Festival for its director Fatih Akin at the 2014 Venice Film Festival. Martin also taught screenwriting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is among the screenwriters on Writers Guild of America list of 101 Greatest Screenplays (for Raging Bull).

According to Martin, he suffered periods of substance abuse during the 1980s and '90s that cost him multiple screenwriting jobs, including Carlito's Way.

Martin died of unknown causes on September 11, 2019. He was found dead in his house five days before his 85th birthday.

• Year — Title — Director — Notes • 1974 — Italianamerican — Martin Scorsese — Co-writer with Lawrence D. Cohen • 1978 — The Last Waltz • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince — Co-writer with Julia Cameron • 2008 — Mardik: Baghdad to Hollywood — Ramy Katrib Evan York

• Year — Title — Director — Notes • 1967 — Who's That Knocking at My Door — Martin Scorsese — As assistant director • 1971 — Revenge Is My Destiny — Joseph Adler — Co-writer with Adler • 1973 — Mean Streets — Martin Scorsese — Co-writer with Scorsese • 1977 — New York, New York — Co-writer with Earl Mac Rauch • Valentino — Ken Russell — Co-writer with Russell • 1978 — The Last Waltz — Martin Scorsese • 1980 — Raging Bull — Co-writer with Paul Schrader • 2014 — The Cut — Fatih Akin — Co-writer with Akin

• Year — Title — Director — Notes • 1964 — It's Not Just You, Murray! — Martin Scorsese — Also assistant director