William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 - April 25, 1982), often credited as W. R. Burnett, was an American novelist and screenwriter. November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ...

Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio. He left his civil service job there to move to Chicago when he was 28, by which time he had written over a hundred short stories and five novels, all unpublished. In Chicago he found a job as a night-clerk in a seedy hotel. Suddenly Burnett found himself associating with a cornucopia of characters straight from the mean streets - prize-fighters, hoodlums, hustlers and hobos. They inspired Little Caesar (novel 1929, film 1931) - its overnight success landed him a job as a Hollywood screenwriter. Little Caesar became a classic movie, produced by First National Pictures (Warner Brothers) and starring the then-unknown Edward G. Robinson. The Al Capone theme was one he returned to in 1932 with Scarface. In addition to this, Burnett had won the 1930 O. Henry Award for his short story "Dressing-Up" published in Harper's Magazine in November of 1929. Springfield is the county seat of Clark County in the State of Ohio. ... Nickname The Windy City Motto Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area  - City    - Land    - Water  - Urban  - Metro 606. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Little Caesar is a 1931 crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Little Caesar is a 1931 crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. ... The First National Exhibitors Circuit was founded 1917 by the merger of 26 of the biggest First Run cinema chains in the United States of America, controlling more than 600 cinemas, more than 200 of them were First Run cinemas. ... Warner Bros. ... Edward Goldenberg Robinson (December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was a jewish - American actor of stage and film. ... FBI mugshot of Capone, 1931 Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Alfonso Scarface Capone, was an infamous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Scarface VHS cover Scarface (also known as Scarface, the Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 gangster film which tells the story of gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The O. Henry Awards are yearly prizes given to short stories of exceptional merit. ... This article is in need of attention. ... An issue of Harpers Magazine from 1905 Another issue, from November 2004 Harpers Magazine (or simply Harpers) is a monthly general-interest magazine covering literature, politics, culture, and the arts. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Burnett kept busy, producing a novel or more a year and turning most into screenplays (some as many as three times). Thematically Burnett was similar to Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain but his contrasting of the corruption and corrosion of the city with the better life his characters yearned for, represented by the paradise of the pastoral, was fresh and original. He portrayed characters who have, for one reason or another, fallen into a life of crime. Once sucked into this life they have been unable to climb out. They typically get one last shot at salvation but the oppressive system closes in and denies redemption. Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. ... James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and crime writer. ...

Burnett's characters exist in world of twilight morality - virtue can come from gangsters and criminals, malice from guardians and protectors. Above all, all of his characters were human - and this could be their undoing. In High Sierra (1941), Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a hard-bitten criminal who rejects his life of crime to help a crippled girl. In The Asphalt Jungle (1950), the most perfectly-masterminded plot falls apart as each character reveals a weakness. In Beast of the City (1932), the police take the law into their own hands when the criminals walk free on a legal loophole, presaging Dirty Harry by almost 40 years. High Sierra (1941) is a film noir written by John Huston and W.R. Burnett from the novel by W.R. Burnett. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Humphrey DeForest Bogart (25 December 1899 – January 14, 1957), an American actor of legendary fame. ... The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, and Marilyn Monroe. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dirty Harry is a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel. ...

Burnett worked with many of the greats in acting and directing, including John Huston, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray and Michael Cimino, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Paul Muni, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. He received an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay nomination for his scripts for Wake Island (1942) and The Great Escape (1963). In addition to his film work he wrote scripts for television and radio. In later years with his vision declining he stopped writing and turned to promoting his earlier work. In his career he achieved huge popularity in Europe, where his anti-hero ideology was enthusiastically embraced. Statue of John Huston, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906–August 28, 1987) was an Irish-American film director and actor. ... John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also equally effective. ... Howard Hawks Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era. ... Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle) (August 7, 1911–June 16, 1979) was an American film director. ... Michael Cimino (born February 3, 1939 in New York City, New York) is an American film director. ... Humphrey DeForest Bogart (25 December 1899 – January 14, 1957), an American actor of legendary fame. ... Lupino in High Sierra Ida Lupino (February 4, 1914 – August 3, 1995) was a film actress, director, and a pioneer in the field of women filmmakers. ... Paul Muni photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1932 Paul Muni (September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an Academy Award-winning versatile actor from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Born Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund to a Jewish family in Lwow, Galicja, an ethnically Polish part of the then-Austro-Hungarian Empire... Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer who is one of the most highly acclaimed male popular song vocalists of all time. ... Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) is one of the twentieth-centurys most famous movie stars, sex symbols and pop icons. ... Steve McQueen in The Great Escape Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor. ... Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood, Jr. ... The Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. ... This article is about the year. ... The Great Escape, written by James Clavell and W.R. Burnett and directed by John Sturges, is a famous and acclaimed 1963 World War II film, based on a true story about Allied POWs with a record for escaping from POW camps. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

On his death in 1982, Burnett was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname The Jewel City Location Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ...

External link

• William R. Burnett at The Internet Movie Database