Reginald Rose, one of the most successful and prolific writers of television's “Golden Age,” was born December 10, 1920, in New York City. He began to write at the age of ten and was preoccupied with that endeavor throughout his early years, turning out numerous essays and several novels.
After attending City College of New York in 1937 and 1938, Rose became an advertising copywriter and at that same time began to write for the theater. Not until 1951, however, did he publish his first script, and then for a different medium. Entitled “The Bus to Nowhere,” it had a science fiction theme and was a segment of the CBS series Out There.
Following that initial success, Rose extended his writing to movies and the stage. His most well-known film is Twelve Angry Men (1957); Rose adapted the screenplay from his television script of the same name and also served as co-producer of the movie. Awards for Twelve Angry Men were numerous. Rose received three Emmys for his original television script, and for the film he received honors from the Writers' Guild of America, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Berlin Film Festival. To the stage Rose has contributed Black Monday, The Porcelain Year and an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men.
It is in the field of television that Reginald Rose has achieved most fame. He wrote many scripts for Playhouse 90, Studio One and other critically-acclaimed dramatic series during the 1950s. In 1960 he created the series, The Defenders, which ran for five consecutive seasons. Rose is often cited for his ability and willingness to tackle sensitive social issues and to produce commercially successful scripts based upon them. As Robert Reed of The Defenders cast has said, “It's Reggie's mind that dominates the show. . . his concern with ethics, with issues, with right and wrong.”
