SHORT TAKES : Screenwriter Allen Rivkin Dies

Screenwriter Allen Rivkin, who was a co-founder of the Writers Guild of America, died at his home Saturday at the age of 86, the guild said Monday.

Rivkin, a native of Hayward, Wis., went to Hollywood in 1923 and became a member of the original Writers Club in the early 1930s.

In 1933, Rivkin and nine other writers were elected to the first board of directors of the newly formed Screen Writers Guild, the precursor of today’s Writers Guild of America.

He served eight years on the guild’s board and four years as president of the screen branch of the guild. As a writer, Rivkin earned more than 70 screen and television credits.

Some of the films he wrote or collaborated on included: “The Farmer’s Daughter,” “Dancing Lady,” “Picture Snatcher,” “Till the End of Time,” “Grounds For Marriage” and “Prisoners of War,” which starred Ronald Reagan.