William Riley Burnett
William Riley Burnett (short often: WR Burnett ; born November 25, 1899 in Springfield , Ohio , † April 25, 1982 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American writer and screenwriter .
Life
Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio. After attending the Miami Military Institute and the OSU , he worked as a statistician in the public service from 1920 to 1927 . In 1927 he resigned and moved to Chicago . There he found a job as a night waitress in a rundown hotel. The milieu of this metropolis, marked by prostitution , street fighting and crime , had a strong influence on him and inspired him to work as a writer. His debut novel Little Caesar was published in 1929. In 1930 he won the O. Henry Award for his short story Dressing-Up . The success of his debut soon earned him a job as a screenwriter.
Burnett wrote several novels and worked on a number of screenplays, which are often adaptations of his works, e.g. B. Scarface et al. a. He has worked with many great film stars, including a. with John Huston , John Ford , Howard Hawks , Humphrey Bogart , Marilyn Monroe , Steve McQueen , Sterling Hayden . His script for the film The Great Escape ( The Great Escape ) was responsible for the Oscar nominated.
For his special literary achievements in the crime genre and the consistently high quality of his works, the Mystery Writers of America honored him in 1980 with their highest distinction, the Grand Master Award . In the same year, the Swedish Crime Academy (Svenska Deckerakademin) honored him together with the English author Geoffrey Household by awarding him the Grand Master for his life's work to date.
After his death in 1982, he was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale , California .
Filmography
- Literary template
- 1930: Little Caesar
- 1932: Law and Order ( Law and order ) - based on the novel "Saint Johnson"
- 1935: Talk of the Town (The Whole Town's Talking)
- 1940: Decision in the Sierra
- 1940: Dark Command ( Dark Command )
- 1943: Crash Dive
- 1948: Mistress of the Dead City
- 1950: asphalt jungle
- 1953: The Beast of the Wild ( Arrowhead )
- 1953: The Hand on the Colt ( Law and order )
- 1954: When the Chains Break ( Captain Lightfood )
- 1955: Against all violence ( I died a thousand times )
- 1956: Chess the murderer ( Accused of murder )
- 1958: stolen gold
- 1962: Cairo - zero o'clock ( Cairo )
- 1972: Cool Breeze (Hot Diamond)
- script
- 1932: Scarface
- 1941: The scarred hand
- 1941: Alone Among Gangsters ( The Get-Away )
- 1942: Wake Island
- 1943: Spy on the Orient Express ( Background to danger )
- 1945: A Man of Action ( San Antonio )
- 1946: A lady for the gangster ( Nobody lives forever ) - based on his novel "I Wasn't Born Yesterday"
- 1948: Daughter of the prairie ( Belle Starr's daughter )
- 1951: Gangster ( The racket )
- 1954: Blood in the Snow ( Dangerous mission )
- 1955: Jackals of the Underworld ( Illegal )
- 1959: The Treasure of the Balearic Islands ( September Storm )
- 1960: City Hyenas ( The Lawbreakers )
- 1962: The Victorious Three ( Sergeants three )
- 1962: Chains broken
- 1963: Four for Texas ( 4 for Texas )
Web links
- Literature by and about William Riley Burnett in the catalog of the German National Library
- William Riley Burnett in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Biography on mordlust.de
- www.ofdb.de
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Burnett, William Riley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Burnett, WR |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American novelist and screenwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 25, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Springfield , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 25, 1982 |
| Place of death | Santa Monica , California |