LOS ANGELES – Budd Schulberg, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of On the Waterfrontand author of novels such as The Harder They Fall, has died in New York aged 95.
Schulberg, whose father was Paramount Pictures chief BP Schulberg, was born in New York City in 1914 and first gained acclaim as a novelist in the 1940s with books such as What Makes Sammy Run. His screenwriting included 1957's A Face in the Crowd, but it was the classic On the Waterfrontfor which he will be best remembered.
The 1954 film, about corruption on the New Jersey waterfront, earned 12 Oscar nominations and won eight of Hollywood’s top honours including screenwriting for Schulberg. Marlon Brando won best actor and the movie was named the year’s best film.
When McCarthyism arrived in Hollywood in March 1951, Schulberg contacted the House Un-American Activities Committee voluntarily and named 15 members or supporters of the Communist party, an act which separated him permanently from those, like Arthur Miller, who declined to assist the committee.
There were social penalties for his pugnacious stand. For decades, blacklisted writers regarded him as an informer. For the rest of his life, the testimony remained a deeply troubling issue for him. But the way the Communist party, of which he had been a member, had tried to direct his literary output filled him with indignation.
In addition to his wife, Schulberg is survived by four children. – ( Reuters, Guardian service)