ROSSEN, ROBERT

ROSSEN, ROBERT (1908–1966), U.S. film writer, producer, director. Born in New York, Rossen was a prizefighter in his early years and worked on the stage before becoming a screenwriter in 1939. He wrote, produced, and directed: All the King's Men (Oscar winner for Best Picture and nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay, 1949), Alexander the Great (1956), The Hustler (Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, 1961), and Lilith (1964). He wrote and directed Johnny O'Clock (1947), Mambo (1954), and They Came to Cordura (1959). He produced and directed The Brave Bulls (1951) and directed Body and Soul (1947) and Island in the Sun (1957). Other films for which he wrote and/or co-wrote the screenplay include: Marked Woman (1937), They Won't Forget (1937), A Child Is Born (1939), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Sea Wolf (1941), Out of the Fog (1941), Blues in the Night (1941), Edge of Darkness (1943), A Walk in the Sun (1945), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1945), and Desert Fury (1947). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Casty, The Films of Robert Rossen (1969). (Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)