Mardik Vartan Martin (Armenian: Մարդիկ Վարդան Մարտին; September 16, 1934 – September 11, 2019) was an Armenian-American screenwriter and teacher. He was best known for writing or co-writing the scripts for Mean Streets, New York, New York and Raging Bull – all directed by his lifelong friend Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro.
Early life
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.
Career
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).
Personal life
According to Martin, he suffered periods of substance abuse during the 1980s and '90s that cost him multiple screenwriting jobs, including Carlito's Way.
Death
Martin died of unknown causes on September 11, 2019. He was found dead in his house five days before his 85th birthday.