William Rose (August 31, 1918 – February 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter of British and Hollywood films.[1]
Born in Jefferson City, Missouri, Rose traveled to Canada after the 1939 outbreak of World War II and volunteered to fight with the Black Watch.[2] After being stationed at bases in Scotland and Europe, he 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.[3]
Blessed with the ability to adapt to two distinct cultures, William Rose wrote a number of successful British comedies including Genevieve (1953).[3] He became a working associate of the American-born director Alexander Mackendrick notably for his collaboration on The Maggie (US:High and Dry, 1954) and The Ladykillers (1955).[3] 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).[4] Rose also won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Comedy for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966).[5]
In 1973, Rose's lifetime achievements were recognized by the Writers Guild of America with their Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.[6] In the 1970s, he had a brief relationship with Katharine Hepburn.[7]
Rose settled in Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1964.[8] He died there in 1987.[9] He is buried in the Churchyard at St. Clement Parish Church, Jersey. William and Tania divorced; she died in 2015 aged 95.[10][11]