W. R. Burnett

William Riley Burnett ( often short: WR Burnett, born November 25, 1899 in Springfield, Ohio, † April 25, 1982 in Santa Monica, California ) was an American author and screenwriter.

Life

Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio. After visiting the Miami Military Institute and the OSU he worked from 1920 to 1927 as a statistician in the public service. In 1927 he resigned his position and moved to Chicago. There he found a job as a night waitress in a rundown hotel. The milieu of the metropolis, drawn by prostitution, street fighting and crime influenced him greatly and inspired him to his literary activity. His debut novel, Little Caesar appeared 1929. 1930 he won the O. Henry Award for his short story dressing -up. The success of his first- soon earned him a job as a screenwriter.

Burnett wrote several novels and worked on several screenplays, which are often adaptations of his works, such as Scarface, inter alia, he has worked with many film stars, including 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 nominated for an Oscar.

For his outstanding literary achievements in the thriller genre and the consistently high quality of his work, gave him 1980, the Mystery Writers of America with its highest honor, the Grand Master Award from. In the same year the Swedish Crime Academy (Svenska Deckerakademin ) honored him together with the English author Geoffrey Household by the awarding of the Grand Master for his previous literary life's work.

After his death in 1982 he was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Filmography

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