Arnold Anthony Schmidt

Arnold Anthony Schmidt, Ph.D., a Professor of English at the California State University, Stanislaus, received his B.A. and M.A. in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz (1986, 1990) and his Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University (1994). His articles on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Byron, Arthur Hugh Clough, Conrad, Garibaldi, Godwin, Mazzini, Scott, Mary Shelley, and Wordsworth have appeared in such venues as the Byron Journal, Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies, Nineteenth-Century Contexts, and Wordsworth Circle, as well as in the anthologies Fictions of the Sea and Beyond the Roots: The Evolution of Conrad's Ideology & Art.

A native New Yorker, Schmidt came to academia after years working in journalism and publicity in film and TV commercial production. Between 1979-1988, his by-lined news stories, feature articles, and reviews appeared in such newspapers and magazines as Adweek, American Cinematographer, Back Stage, Commercials Monthly, Duchess County Magazine, Emmy, Hollywood Reporter, Millimeter, On Location, the Middletown Times Herald Record, the Poughkeepsie Journal, Screen, and Shooting Commercials.

Schmidt's film experience includes writing the story for the "Tommy's Lost Weekend" episode of the Warner Bros. sitcom Alice, which received an Emmy nomination in 1985. He received a Letter of Commendation in 1986 from Los Angeles County for the episode's treatment of teenage alcoholism.

A former member of Lonnie Chapman's Group Repertory Theatre's Playwriting Unit (North Hollywood), Schmidt wrote Brotherly Love, a two-act drama showcased in a 1985 workshop production. His other credits include a script for Deja Vu, a 1984 Cannon Films feature starring Jaclyn Smith, Nigel Terry, Shelley Winters, and Claire Bloom. "The Silence," an American Film Institute production on which he served as Assistant Producer, received a 1983 Academy Award nomination in the best short dramatic film category.

Schmidt also wrote a screenplay for The Junkie Priest, a 1988 script based on the best-selling life story of Father Daniel Egan. Working with the project's Senior Story Consultant Howard Koch, who wrote Casablanca, made the experience particularly rewarding.