Reginald Rose
Reginald Rose was a prominent American writer known for his significant contributions to television during the medium's "golden age" in the mid-20th century. He was part of a group of innovative writers who crafted live, original dramas for weekly anthologies such as Studio One and Philco Television Playhouse, helping to shape television as a serious form of artistic expression. Born in New York City in 1920, Rose served in the army before embarking on his writing career in 1951, with his notable early work including "The Bus to Nowhere." His plays often explored themes of social justice and prejudice, as seen in his acclaimed teleplay "Twelve Angry Men," which he adapted into a successful film and stage production.
Rose's work consistently addressed contemporary social issues, demonstrating his commitment to reflecting societal challenges through storytelling. In addition to "Twelve Angry Men," he created the courtroom drama "The Defenders" and wrote for various television series and miniseries throughout his career. His accomplishments earned him multiple awards, including four Emmy Awards and an Academy Award nomination. Reginald Rose's legacy endures as a testament to the power of television to engage with pressing social concerns, and he passed away in 2002 at the age of 81.
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Reginald Rose
Writer
- Born: December 10, 1920
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: April 19, 2002
- Place of death: Norwalk, Connecticut
Biography
Reginald Rose was one of the writers who worked during the “golden age” of television, when the medium seemed to open a new frontier for drama. Rose, along with Paddy Chayevsky, Rod Serling, Tad Mosel, and other writers, entered the television industry at a time when the networks aired weekly anthologies of live drama, often called “playhouses on the air.” Such programs as Studio One, Lux Video Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Playhouse Ninety, and Philco Television Playhouse commissioned writers to provide one-hour original dramas that were broadcast live to viewers. These plays generated much excitement as well as a voracious appetite for new material. From the late 1940’s until the early 1960’s, many writers’ work was performed in this new medium, and some of these writers moved on to prominence in film and stage work.
Rose was born in 1920 in New York City. After serving in the army from 1942 to 1946, he began his career as a writer and began writing teleplays in 1951. Studio One produced his first significant play, The Bus to Nowhere, which aired in 1951.
Rose was deeply committed to developing themes in his plays that derived from the social issues of the day. He was particularly interested in examining questions arising from injustice and prejudice. These concerns are abundantly evident in his teleplay, Thunder on Sycamore Street, the story of a former convict who moves into a respectable neighborhood in the hope of starting a new life, only to be driven off by neighbors who are outraged when they learned of his past. Rose originally wrote the play with an African American as the central character, but producers and sponsors insisted on changing the character to a former convict to avoid alienating Southern audiences. Rose’s output in the 1954-1955 television season included four plays that also addressed issues of justice and prejudice: 12:32 A.M., An Almanac of Liberty, Crime in the Streets, and Twelve Angry Men. The latter play is his best-known work, and he adapted it for a film that was released in 1957 and a stage play produced in 1964.
Another of Rose’s early works was The Defenders, a courtroom drama written for Studio One in 1957 that served as a pilot for what became a long-running series with the same title. Rose worked as producer and sometimes as writer for The Defenders when the series aired from 1961 to 1965. Rose created and wrote for another television series, The Zoo Gang, in 1975. Thereafter, he contributed scripts for two miniseries, Studs Lonigan in 1979 and Escape from Sobibor in 1987.
Rose also wrote screenplays, including The Wild Geese, The Sea Wolves, Whose Life Is It Anyway, and Wild Geese II. His stage plays include Dear Friends and This Agony, This Triumph. He won many awards for his work, including four Emmy Awards, an Academy Award nomination, and the Writers Guild of America’s Laurel Award in recognition of his distinguished career. He died in 2002 at the age of eighty- one.