Lederer, William J.

William Lederer with others receiving award for photograph.

An American author and Navy captain, William Julius Lederer, Jr. was born on March 31, 1912 in Manhattan, New York to dentist and occasional actor William Julius Lederer and Paula Franken. Lederer's mother died when he was 5, after which the family moved up the Hudson River to Ossining, New York. He completed one year at DeWitt Clinton High School before dropping out at the age of 16 and becoming assistant to New York journalist Heywood Broun. Under Broun's tutelage, Lederer was introduced to members of the Algonquin Round Table, including author Dorothy Parker and humorist Robert Benchley.

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