Alan Sharp

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Alan Sharp (born January 12, 1934 in Alyth , Perth and Kinross , Scotland, † February 8, 2013 in Los Angeles , California , USA ) was a British writer and screenwriter .

Life

Sharp was adopted by a Salvation Army family when he was six weeks old. In his first years of employment, after dropping out of school at the age of fourteen and before and after his military service from 1952 to 1954 with the British National Service, he worked in numerous professions, such as assistant to a detective, English teacher, construction worker, security officer and for IBM. During this time he was already writing. Eventually he settled in London, where a first screenplay was filmed by British television in 1963.

His first novel, A Green Tree in Gedde , published in 1965, received the Scottish Arts Council award two years later . In the same year The Wind Shifts appeared , a third work remained a draft, as Sharp moved to Hollywood and turned to screenwriting. Within a few years he presented six works that testify to his ability to “tell complex stories full of entanglements and strokes of fate” and focus on original American characters and themes. From the 1980s onwards, Sharp wrote mostly for television, but with further successful side trips to feature films. His only attempt at directing in 1985, Little Treasures , was less successful.

Sharp was married four times and had six children and two step-sons . The actress Rudi Davies comes from his connection with fellow writer Beryl Bainbridge .

Works (selection)

Books
  • 1965: A Green Tree in Gedde (German: Deep down in Demerara . Piper 1965)
  • 1967: The Wind Shifts
  • 1976: Night Moves (German: Anyone who puts himself in danger ... The book for the film 'The Hot Track'. ISBN 978-3442046638 )
Scripts
  • 1970: The Hired Hand
  • 1971: Who instigated the mob (The Last Run)
  • 1972: No mercy for Ulzana (Ulzana's Raid)
  • 1973: Bury the Wolves in the Canyon (Billy Two Hats)
  • 1975: The Hot Track (Night Moves)
  • 1977: Damnation Alley
  • 1983: The Osterman Weekend (The Osterman Weekend)
  • 1984: Gulag 2 (Coming Out of the Ice) (TV movie)
  • 1985: Dusty Dollars (A Little Treasure) (also director)
  • 1990: Sex Trap - Die Sexfalle (True Betrayal) (Movie made for TV)
  • 1991: Mission of the Shark (Mission of the Shark) (TV movie)
  • 1993: The Last Hit (TV movie)
  • 1994: Betrayed by Love (TV movie)
  • 1994: Rob Roy (Rob Roy)
  • 2006: Avenger - A Man in Crosshairs (Avenger) (TV movie)
  • 2006: Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (a television episode)
  • 2008: Dean Spanley (Dean Spanley)
  • 2010: Ben Hur (Ben-Hur) (TV movie)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Vitello: Alan Sharp, 79, critically acclaimed screenwriter. bostonglobe.com, February 18, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014
  2. ↑ Simon Farquhar: Alan Sharp: Writer best known for 'Rob Roy' and 'Night Moves'. independent.co.uk, February 19, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014
  3. ↑ Walter Chaw in his review of Night Moves , in the Waybackmachine on FilmFreakCentral ( Memento from December 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Obituary in the New York Times
personal data
SURNAME Sharp, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British novelist and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Alyth
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 2013
Place of death los Angeles