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Reginald Rose

 
Writer: Reginald Rose
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Aug 18, 1921 in New York, New York
  • Died: Apr 19, 2002 in Norwalk, Connecticut
  • Occupation: Writer
  • Active: '50s, '70s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Action
  • Career Highlights: 12 Angry Men, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Man of the West
  • First Major Screen Credit: Studio One: Twelve Angry Men (1954)

Biography

A fearless Golden Age of Television writer of the highest caliber, Reginald Rose's ability to tackle pressing social issues distinguished him from the pack and, along with such contemporaries as Rod Serling and Paddy Chayefsky, left an indelible mark on the history of thought-provoking television drama. Born in New York City in December of 1920, Rose enlisted in the Army in 1942. After rising through the ranks to become first lieutenant, the future writer wed Barbara Langbart the following year before venturing into writing nearly a decade later. Penning his first teleplay (Bus to Nowhere) for CBS's Studio One in 1951, it was a mere three years later that Rose would become the head writer for that series and create the work that would become his masterpiece. Overwhelmed by the intense drama of the jury system while serving as a juror on a manslaughter case, Rose successfully translated the heated debate that occurs behind courtroom doors into the Emmy-winning drama Twelve Angry Men in 1954. The tale of a lone voice of dissent in the jury weighing the fate of a Puerto Rican youth charged with patricide, the teleplay was a massive success that spawned an even more successful 1957 film. The film version was nominated for multiple Oscars including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, and marked Rose's sole credit as co-producer. Rose would continue to write for Studio One in the following years in addition to penning scripts for The Twilight Zone and such features as Crime in the Streets (1956) and Man of the West (1958). His success with the Studio One teleplay The Defenders later spawned an Emmy-winning series based on a father-son lawyer team who delved into cases involving such socially relevant issues as abortion and blacklisting. A teleplay for Thunder on Sycamore Street (1959) pondered the issues of an ex-con attempting to go straight while his neighbors form a mob to drive him from their neighborhood. Nominated for six Emmys in all (three of which he won), Rose's teleplays were consistently challenging and offered audiences a thoughtful perspective in troubled times. Working well into the 1980s with such efforts as Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) and Escape From Sobibor (1987), the repercussions of Rose's most famous work were further reinforced when 12 Angry Men once again went before the cameras in 1997, nearly 50 years after it was written. In April of 2002, Rose died in a Norwalk, CT, hospital, leaving behind his second wife and six children. He was 81. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Reginald Rose
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Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American film and television writer most widely known for his work in the early years of television drama. Rose's work is marked by its treatment of controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach helped create the slice of life school of television drama, which was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s.

Born in Manhattan, Rose attended Townsend Harris High School and briefly attended City College (now part of the City University of New York) before serving in the U.S. Army in 1942-46, where he became a first lieutenant.

Contents

Television

He sold his first teleplay, Bus to Nowhere, in 1950 to the live CBS dramatic anthology program Studio One, for which he wrote Twelve Angry Men four years later. This latter drama, set entirely in a room where a jury is deliberating the fate of a man accused of murder, was inspired by Rose's service on just such a trial.

The Internet Movie Database quotes Rose's memories of this experience: "It was such an impressive, solemn setting in a great big wood-paneled courtroom, with a silver-haired judge, it knocked me out. I was overwhelmed. I was on a jury for a manslaughter case, and we got into this terrific, furious, eight-hour argument in the jury room. I was writing one-hour dramas for Studio One then, and I thought, wow, what a setting for a drama."

Rose received an Emmy for his teleplay and an Oscar nomination for its 1957 feature-length film adaptation. Rose wrote for all three of the major broadcast networks of the 1950-80 period. He created and wrote for The Defenders in 1961, a weekly courtroom drama spun off from one of Rose's episodes of Studio One; The Defenders would go on to win two Emmy awards for dramatic writing.

Twilight Zone

His teleplay "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" was the basis for a Twilight Zone episode in 1963 starring Pat Hingle, Nan Martin, and Ruth White. The episode was broadcast on April 18, 1963 on CBS as episode 15 of season four. The theme was how the past is always glorified due to the repression and self-censorship of the negative aspects. We remember the good while we forget the bad. The teleplay had originally appeared as a Studio One episode in 1955.

Films

Rose was a screenwriter, beginning with Crime in the Streets (1956), an adaptation of his 1955 teleplay for The Elgin Hour. He made four movies with the British producer Euan Lloyd: The Wild Geese, The Sea Wolves, Who Dares Wins and Wild Geese II.

Rose was married twice, to Barbara Langbart in 1943, with whom he had four children, and to Ellen McLaughlin in 1963, with whom he had two children. He died in 2002 from complications of heart failure.

Plays

  • The Porcelain Year (1950)
  • Twelve Angry Men (1954)
  • Black Monday (1962)
  • Dear Friends (1968)
  • This Agony, This Triumph (1972)

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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