Reginald Rose

2025-11-01T14:43:48Z

2601:408:C580:9460:8589:7246:3A35:75AA: /* Awards and nominations */

{{short description|American playwright and screenwriter (1920–2002)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=July 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = File:Photo_of_Reginald_Rose.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|12|10}}
| birth_place = [[Manhattan]], New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|4|19|1920|12|10}}
| death_place = [[Norwalk, Connecticut]], U.S.
| nationality =
| years_active = 1951–1987
| other_names =
| occupation = Playwright, screenwriter
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Barbara Langbart|1943|end=div.}}|{{marriage|Ellen McLaughlin|1963}}}}
| children = 6
}}

'''Reginald Rose''' (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His [[realism (arts)|realistic]] approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s.

Rose was born and raised in [[Manhattan]]. He was best known for his courtroom drama ''[[Twelve Angry Men]]'', exploring the members of a jury in a murder trial. It was adapted for a [[12 Angry Men (1957 film)|film of the same name]], directed by [[Sidney Lumet]] and released in 1957.

==Early years==
Reginald Rose was born in Manhattan on December 10, 1920,<ref name="nytobit" /> the son of Alice (née Obendorfer) and William Rose, a lawyer.<ref name="la obit">{{cite news |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |date=23 April 2002 |title=Reginald Rose, 81; Writer Honored for ’12 Angry Men’ (obituary) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-apr-23-me-rose23-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602182917/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-apr-23-me-rose23-story.html |archive-date=2 June 2025 |access-date=2 June 2025}}</ref> Rose attended Townsend Harris High School and briefly attended [[City College of New York|City College]] (now part of the [[City University of New York]]). He served in the [[U.S. Army]] during World War II, from 1942–46, where he was promoted to first lieutenant.<ref name="la obit" />

Rose began trying to write when he was 15 years old and living in [[Harlem]], but he said, "I didn't make it until I was 30."<ref name="ha">{{cite news |last1=Bowman |first1=Pierre |title=He's Reginald Rose, the legendary TV dramatist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108290510/reginald-rose/ |access-date=August 25, 2022 |work=The Honolulu Advertiser |date=July 30, 1980 |page=31|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In the interim, he worked as an ad agency's copywriter, a publicist for Warner Bros,<ref name=ha/> a window washer, a clerk, and a counselor at a camp.<ref name="vp">{{cite news |last1=McManus |first1=Margaret |title=Rose Offering One for TV, Two for Stage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108291084/reginald-rose/ |access-date=August 25, 2022 |work=The Virginian-Pilot |date=August 27, 1961 |location=Virginia, Norfolk |page=F-4|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Television==
He sold ''Bus to Nowhere'', his first teleplay, in 1951 to the live dramatic anthology program ''[[Studio One (radio-TV series)|Studio One]]''.<ref name="am">{{cite web |last1=Buchanan |first1=Jason |title=Reginald Rose |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/reginald-rose-p108874 |website=AllMovie |access-date=August 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119055450/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/reginald-rose-p108874 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> They bought his play, ''[[Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)|Twelve Angry Men]]'', four years later. This latter drama, set entirely in a room where a jury is deliberating the fate of a teenage boy accused of murder, was inspired by Rose's service on a similar trial. The play later was adapted as the 1957 [[12 Angry Men (1957 film)|film of the same name]], directed by [[Sidney Lumet]].

Rose said about his own jury service: "It was such an impressive, solemn setting in a great big wood-paneled courtroom, with a silver-haired judge, it knocked me out. I was overwhelmed. I was on a jury for a manslaughter case, and we got into this terrific, furious, eight-hour argument in the jury room. I was writing one-hour dramas for ''Studio One'' then, and I thought, wow, what a setting for a drama."<ref name="nytobit" />

Rose received an [[Emmys|Emmy]] for his teleplay ''Twelve Angry Men'' and an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nomination for its 1957 feature-length film adaptation. From 1950 to 1960, Rose wrote for all three of the major broadcast networks. In 1961 he created and wrote for ''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]''. The weekly courtroom drama was spun off from one of Rose's episodes of ''Studio One''. ''The Defenders'' won two Emmy awards for his dramatic writing.<ref name="nytobit" />

Rose co-wrote the 1986 TV movie ''[[My Two Loves (1986 film)|My Two Loves]]'', starring [[Mariette Hartley]] and [[Lynn Redgrave]].

==''Twilight Zone''==
His teleplay "[[The Incredible World of Horace Ford]]" was the basis for [[The Incredible World of Horace Ford|a 1963 episode]] of the television series ''[[The Twilight Zone]]''. It starred [[Pat Hingle]], [[Nan Martin]], and [[Ruth White (actress)|Ruth White]]. The episode was broadcast on CBS on April 18, 1963, as Episode 15 of Season Four. The theme was how individuals glorify the past by repressing and exercising censorship of the negative aspects: we remember the good while we forget the bad. The teleplay had originally been produced in 1955 as a ''Studio One'' episode.

==Films==
Rose wrote screenplays for many dramas, beginning with ''[[Crime in the Streets]]'' (1956), an adaptation of his 1955 teleplay for ''The Elgin Hour''. He made four movies with British producer [[Euan Lloyd]]: ''[[The Wild Geese]]'', ''[[The Sea Wolves]]'', ''[[Who Dares Wins (film)|Who Dares Wins]]'' and ''[[Wild Geese II]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=11 September 2025|access-date=11 September 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-1982-1997/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation 1982-1997}}</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
Rose married Barbara Langbart in 1943, with whom he had four children. After they divorced, he married Ellen McLaughlin (not the playwright and actress) in 1963, with whom he had two children.<ref name="nytobit" />

Rose died on April 19, 2002, in a [[Norwalk, Connecticut]], hospital, aged 81.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |last1=Kelley |first1=Tina |title=Reginald Rose, 81, TV Writer Noted for 'Twelve Angry Men' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/nyregion/reginald-rose-81-tv-writer-noted-for-twelve-angry-men.html |access-date=August 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 21, 2002 |page=40|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The cause of death was complications of heart failure.<ref name="obit">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3rGCwAAQBAJ&q=rose+reginald+died&pg=PA251 |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2002: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture |date=2008-10-24 |isbn=9780786452071}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Unclear where Lentz is sourcing this information.|date=May 2025}}

==Papers==
Rose's papers are housed in the [[Wisconsin Historical Society]] Archives at the [[Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research]]. The collection includes "variant drafts of scripts, correspondence, clippings, and production information".<ref name="whs">{{cite web |title=Reginald Rose Papers, 1952-1979 |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;q1=reginald%20rose;rgn=main;view=text;didno=uw-whs-us0094an |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |publisher=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections |access-date=August 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505163819/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;q1=reginald%20rose;rgn=main;view=text;didno=uw-whs-us0094an |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Films and tape recordings are included in addition to printed documents.<ref name=whs/> [[Columbia University Libraries]] also have scripts, "cast lists, shooting schedules, and allied notes and papers" related to ''The Defenders''. The material is housed in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Defenders scripts and papers, 1960-1965 |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_4078688/ |website=Columbia University Libraries |access-date=August 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626125047/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_4078688/ |archive-date=June 26, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Filmography==
===Film===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!scope=col | Year
!scope=col | Title
!scope=col width=65| Writer
!scope=col width=65| Producer
! Notes
|-
|1956
|''[[Crime in the Streets]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1957
|''[[12 Angry Men]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1957
|''[[Dino (film)|Dino]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1958
|''[[Man of the West]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1959
|''[[The Man in the Net]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1973
|''[[Baxter!]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1978
|''[[The Wild Geese]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1978
|''[[Somebody Killed Her Husband]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1980
|''[[The Sea Wolves]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1981
|''[[Whose Life Is It Anyway? (film)|Whose Life Is It Anyway?]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1982
|''[[The Final Option (1982 film)|The Final Option]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|-
|1985
|''[[Wild Geese II]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |
|}

===Television===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!scope=col | Year
!scope=col | Title
!scope=col width=65| Writer
!scope=col width=65| Creator
! Notes
|-
|1951
|''[[Out There (1951 TV series)|Out There]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" | Wrote episode "The Bus To Nowhere"
|-
|1952–1957
|''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote 17 episodes
|-
|1953
|''[[The Revlon Mirror Theater]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "The Enormous Radio"
|-
|1953–1954
|''[[Danger (TV series)|Danger]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote 5 episodes
|-
|-
|1954
|''[[The Elgin Hour]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Crime in the Streets"
|-
|1955
|''[[Goodyear Playhouse]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "The Expendable House"
|-
|1955
|''Three Empty Rooms''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1955
|''The Challenge''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1956
|''[[The Alcoa Hour]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Tragedy in a Temporary Town"
|-
|1957
|''[[ITV Television Playhouse]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Thunder on Sycamore Street"
|-
|1957
|''[[Armchair Theatre]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Tragedy in a Temporary Town"
|-
|1959
|''[[Shell Presents]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Tragedy in a Temporary Town"
|-
|1959–1960
|''[[Playhouse 90]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episodes "A Quiet Game of Cards", "A Marriage of Strangers" and "The Cruel Day"
|-
|1959–1960
|''[[Sunday Showcase]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episodes "A Tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt on Her Diamond Jubilee" and "[[Sacco-Vanzetti Story|The Sacco-Vanzetti Story]]"
|-
|-
|1960
|''[[The General Motors Hour]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Thunder on Sycamore Street"
|-
|1960
|''[[General Motors Presents|Encounter]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episodes "Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners" and "The Incredible World of Horace Ford"
|-
|1961
|''[[The Play of the Week]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Black Monday"
|-
|1961
|''[[Drama 61-67|Drama '61]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "The Cruel Day"
|-
|1961–1965
|''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote 132 episodes
|-
|1962
|''[[A Quiet Game of Cards]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1963
|''[[BBC Sunday-Night Play]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners"
|-
|1963
|''[[Suspense (American TV series)|Suspense]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Thunder on Sycamore Street"
|-
|1963
|''[[The Twilight Zone]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "[[The Incredible World of Horace Ford]]"
|-
|1965
|''Directions''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "The Final Ingredient"
|-
|1965
|''[[Love Story (British TV series)|Love Story]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "A Marriage of Strangers"

|-
|1967
|''[[Stranger on the Run]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film

|-
|1967
|''[[CBS Playhouse]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote episode "Dear Friends"
|-
|1970
|''Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television special
|-
|1973
|''[[Jackanory]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Wrote 3 episodes
|-
|1974
|''[[The Zoo Gang]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left" |5 episodes
|-
|1977
|''The Four of Us''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1979
|''[[Studs Lonigan]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television miniseries
|-
|1982
|''The Rules of Marriage''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1986
|''[[My Two Loves]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|-
|1987
|''[[Escape from Sobibor]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television film
|}

== Awards and nominations ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%"
|- style="text-align:center;"
! |Year
! |Award
! |Work
! |Category
! |Result
! |Note(s)
! |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
|[[7th Primetime Emmy Awards|1955]]
|rowspan=2"|[[Primetime Emmy Awards]]
|''[[Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)|Twelve Angry Men]]''
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series|Best Written Dramatic Material]]
|{{won}}
|
|
|-
|[[9th Primetime Emmy Awards|1957]]
|''[[Tragedy in a Temporary Town (The Alcoa Hour)|Tragedy in a Temporary Town]]''
|Best Teleplay Writing, One Hour or More
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[30th Academy Awards|1958]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Academy Awards]]
|rowspan="4"|''[[12 Angry Men]]''
|Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] (with [[Henry Fonda]])
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|1958
|[[Edgar Awards]]
|[[Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay|Best Motion Picture Screenplay]]
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[10th Writers Guild of America Awards|1958]]
|[[Writers Guild of America Awards]]
|[[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]]
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[13th Primetime Emmy Awards|1961]]
|rowspan="4"|[[Primetime Emmy Awards]]
|''[[Sacco-Vanzetti Story]]''
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series|Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama]]
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|[[14th Primetime Emmy Awards|1962]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]''
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series|Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama]]
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[15th Primetime Emmy Awards|1963]]
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series|Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama]] (with [[Robert Thom (writer)|Robert Thom]])
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[20th Primetime Emmy Awards|1968]]
|''[[Dear Friends (CBS Playhouse)|Dear Friends]]''
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series|Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama]]
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|1979
|[[Edgar Awards]]
|''[[Somebody Killed Her Husband]]''
|[[Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay|Best Motion Picture Screenplay]]
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|1987
|[[Writers Guild of America Awards]]
|''[[12 Angry Men]]''
|[[Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement]]
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[39th Primetime Emmy Awards|1987]]
|[[Primetime Emmy Awards]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Escape from Sobibor]]''
|[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie|Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special]]
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|-
|1988
|[[Writers Guild of America Awards]]
|Adapted Long Form
|{{Won}}
|
|
|-
|[[19th CableACE Awards|1997]]
|[[CableACE Awards]]
|''[[12 Angry Men (1997 film)|12 Angry Men]]''
|Writing a Movie or Miniseries
|{{Nom}}
|
|
|}

==Plays==
*''The Porcelain Year'' (1950)
*''[[Twelve Angry Men (play)|Twelve Angry Men]]'' (1954)
*''[[Sacco-Vanzetti Story]]'' (1960)
*''Black Monday'' (1962)
*''Dear Friends'' (1968)
*''This Agony, This Triumph'' (1972)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/rosereginal/rosereginal.htm Reginald Rose] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423082112/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/rosereginal/rosereginal.htm |date=2006-04-23 }} at the [[Museum of Broadcast Communications]]
*[http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=980/ Reginald Rose Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131210214825/http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=980/ |date=2013-12-10 }} at the [[Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research]]
*{{IMDb name|741627}}

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Reginald Rose
|list =
{{Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay}}
{{EmmyAward DramaWriting 1960s}}
{{Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement}}
}}
{{Twelve Angry Men}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Reginald}}
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]]

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Reginald Rose