William Rose (31 August 1918 – 10 February 1987) was an American screenwriter of British and Hollywood films.
Life
Rose was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. He traveled to Canada after the 1939 outbreak of World War II and volunteered to fight with the Black Watch. After being stationed at bases in Scotland and Europe, Rose returned to live in Britain at war's end to work as a screenwriter, marrying an English woman, Tania Price, with whom he would later collaborate.
In 1964, Rose settled in Jersey in the Channel Islands. His marriage to Tania didn't last. After the couple separated/divorced, Tania returned to live in London in the autumn of 1967. She died in 2015, aged 95. In the 1970s, Rose had a brief relationship with actress Katharine Hepburn.
Rose died in Jersey in 1987. He is buried in the Churchyard at St. Clement Parish Church, Jersey.
Career Blessed with the ability to adapt to two distinct cultures, William Rose wrote a number of successful British comedies including Genevieve (1953). Rose became a working associate of American-born director Alexander Mackendrick, notably for his collaboration on The Maggie (US: High and Dry, 1954) and The Ladykillers (1955). He also provided scripts for Hollywood studios, earning several Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting and winning the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Rose also won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Comedy for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966).
In 1973, Rose's lifetime achievements were recognized by the Writers Guild of America with their Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.
Screenwriting awards YearAwardCategoryFilmResult 1954 Academy Awards Best Story and Screenplay Genevieve 1957 Best Screenplay – Original The Ladykillers 1966 Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 1967 Best Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1954 British Academy Film Awards Best British Screenplay The Maggie 1955 The Ladykillers Touch and Go 1957 The Man in the Sky (Shared with John Eldridge) The Smallest Show on Earth (Shared with John Eldridge) 1968 Best Screenplay Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1964 Edgar Allan Poe Awards Best Motion Picture Screenplay It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Shared with Tania Rose) 1966 Golden Globe Awards Best Screenplay The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967 Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 1968 The Flim-Flam Man Best Written American Drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Best Written American Original Screenplay 1972 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Filmography
Year Title Director Notes 1948 Once a Jolly Swagman Jack Lee Credited with Jack Lee & Cliff Gordon Esther Waters Ian DalrymplePeter Proud Credited with Michael Gordon & Gerard Tyrrell 1950 I'll Get You for This Joseph M. Newman Credited with George Callahan My Daughter Joy Gregory Ratoff Credited with Robert Thoeren 1952 Gift Horse Compton Bennett Credited with William Fairchild & Hugh Hastings 1953 Genevieve Henry Cornelius 1954 The Maggie Alexander Mackendrick 1955 The Ladykillers Touch and Go Michael Truman 1957 The Man in the Sky Charles Crichton Credited with John Eldridge The Smallest Show on Earth Basil Dearden Credited with John Eldridge 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Stanley Kramer Credited with Tania Rose 1966 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Norman Jewison 1967 The Flim-Flam Man Irvin Kershner Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Stanley Kramer 1969 The Secret of Santa Vittoria
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