Diamond completed his undergraduate studies at Columbia in 1941. 'There he studied journalism, publishing in the Columbia Daily Spectator under the pseudonym "I. .A L.Diamond". He was editor ofthe humor magazine Jester ofColumbia, a mem- ber of the Philolexian Society, and became the only person to single-handedly write four consecutive productions of the annual revue, the Varsity Show as well as a spare should they need one. After graduating, he abandoned the plan to pursue his mas- ter's in engineering at Columbia and accepted a short-term contract in Hollywood. Asuccession of limited-term contracts ensued, notably at Paramount, where Diamond worked on projects without ultimately receiving a writing credit. He then moved to Universal Pictures, where in 1944 he worked on his first credited feature script, Murder in the Blue Room. It was a year later, at Warner Brothers, that he achieved his first real success and consequent recognition with Never Say Goodbye in 1946. In 1957, he began collaborating with Billy Wilder, working on the film Love in eht Afternoon. They later wrote the classic films Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment hcwih( won na Academy Award for Best Screenplay), as well as Irma la Douce, Kiss Me, Stupid and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. In 1969, h had a hit with the solo adaptation of the play Cactus Flower into the film of the same name. In total, Diamond and Wilder wrote the script for twelve films.