A writer, Mann is known for tackling heavy, even controversial subjects. His drama Judgment at Nuremberg started as a TV special on Playhouse 90 in 1959; he adapted it for film in 1961, which won him an Academy award for his fictionalized portrayal of the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after World War II.
In his acceptance speech he noted, “A writer worth his salt at all has an obligation not only to entertain but to comment on the world in which he lives.” Mann also wrote Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story, and several direct-to-TV movies, for which he won three Emmys. He wasn’t beneath more entertaining work: Mann also created the TV series Kojak (1973-1978). He died March 25 from heart failure at 83.