William Rose (screenwriter)

Wedding of William Rose (in his Black Watch uniform) and Tania Price in 1944

William Rose (December 12, 1914 - February 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter of British and Hollywood films.

Although born in Jefferson City, Missouri, after the 1939 outbreak of World War II, Rose lived in Canada and volunteered to fight overseas with the Black Watch. After being stationed at bases in Scotland and Europe, at war's end he returned to live in Britain to work as a screenwriter. He became a working associate of the American-born director, Alexander Mackendrick, notably for their collaboration on The Ladykillers (1955).

Blessed with the ability to adapt to two distinct cultures, William Rose wrote a number of popular British comedies including 1953's Genevieve. He also provided scripts for Hollywood studios, earning several Academy Award nominations for his scriptwriting and winning the 1967 Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Rose also won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Comedy for 1966's, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. In 1973, Rose's lifetime achievements were recognized by the Writer's Guild with their "Laurel Award."

In the 1970s, he had a brief relationship with Katharine Hepburn.

William Rose died in 1987 in Jersey, Channel Islands.

Screenwriting awards

Wins

• Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay  : Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Bafta Award for Best British Screenplay  : The Ladykillers (1955)
• Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement (1973)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy : The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966)

Nominations

• Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay : Genevieve (1953) & The Ladykillers (1955)
• Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay : The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
• Bafta Award for Best British Screenplay : The Maggie (1954), Touch and Go (1955), The Smallest Show on Earth (1957), The Man in the Sky (1957)
• Edgar Award : It's a Mad Mad Mad World (1963; shared with Tania Rose)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay : The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) & Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy : The Flim-Flam Man (1967)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama : Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Original Screenplay : Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Filmography

• Once a Jolly Swagman (1948)
• Esther Waters (1948)
• I'll Get You for This (1950)
• My Daughter Joy (1950)
• Gift Horse (1952)
• Genevieve (1953)
• The Maggie (1954)
• Touch and Go (1955)
• The Ladykillers (1955)
• The Man in the Sky (1957)
• The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
• Scent of Mystery (1960)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963; with Tania Rose)
• The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
• The Flim-Flam Man (1967)
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
• The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
• The Ladykillers (2004; remake of the 1955 film)
• Guess Who (2005; remake of the 1967 film)

External Links

• William Rose at Internet Movie Database