He received four Oscar nominations and won once for Best Screenplay for fantasy romantic comedy film Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) along with Seton I. Miller.
Born to a Jewish family,[1] in Duluth, Minnesota,[2] and educated at Columbia University, where he was a member of the Philolexian Society, he served as President of the Screen Writers Guild of America in 1941–1942.
[citation needed] His scripts from this period include The Right to Romance (1933), She Married Her Boss (1935), The King Steps Out (1936), Theodora Goes Wild (1936) and Holiday (1938).
He would go on to receive Academy Award nominations for his writing on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Jolson Sings Again (1949), winning an Oscar for Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
Buchman's refusal to provide the names of American Communist Party members to the House Un-American Activities Committee led to a charge of contempt of Congress.