William Rose (screenwriter)

Although born in Jefferson City, Missouri, Rose traveled to Canada after the 1939 outbreak of World War II and volunteered to fight overseas 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 their 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 scriptwriting 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]

William Rose died in 1987 in Jersey, Channel Islands.[8] He is buried in the Churchyard at St. Clement Parish Church, Jersey. William and Tania divorced; she died in 2015 aged 95.[9][10]

• 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)
• 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)

• William Rose at IMDb