James Edmund Neil Paterson (31 December 1915 – 19 April 1995) was a Scottish

writer of novels A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, short stories and screenplays. He won the 1959

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

for '' Room at the Top''. Before his success as a writer, he worked in journalism and had a brief career as an amateur

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, playing for Buckie Thistle, Leith Athletic and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

Early life and football career

Born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowland ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

(now part of

Inverclyde Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hi ...

), Paterson was the older of two children of James D Paterson (1880–1947) and Nicholas K Kerr (1892–1956). He graduated from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

and had a brief career in senior

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, playing as an

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He played for

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, for Buckie Thistle in the Highland League and for

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

teams Leith Athletic and

, becoming captain of the latter in the 1936–37 season. Despite his success in football – he scored 9 goals from 26 league appearances for Dundee United, including a hat-trick – he remained an amateur player, spurning the opportunity to go professional. As an amateur he was automatically released at the end of the season, although he played one further game for the club in an emergency.

Writing career and later life

After his football career finished he became a writer, initially as a sports journalist for

D.C. Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics '' Oor W ...

and after the Second World War as an author, penning a number of well received novels and short stories. Paterson won the Atlantic Award for Literature in 1946. He adapted his own short story ''The Kidnappers'' for a cinema version released in 1953. Subsequently, he wrote a number of other screenplays, including the first screen version of

John Braine John Gerard Braine (13 April 1922 – 28 October 1986) was an English novelist. Braine is usually listed among the angry young men, a loosely defined group of English writers who emerged on the literary scene in the 1950s. Biography John Brain ...

's novel '' Room at the Top'' (1959) which later won the

. Paterson served as a governor for the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, National Film School and the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council ( ...

and as an executive for

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...

. He died in 1995 at

Crieff Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has becom ...

Tayside Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following rec ...

(now part of

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland ...

Selected bibliography

*''On my Faithless Arm'' (1946) (Under pseudonym John Kovack) *''The China Run: Being the biography of a great-grandmother'' (1948) *''Behold Thy Daughter'' (1950) *''The China Run: A book of short stories'' (1951) *''Man on the Tightrope'' (1952) *''Man on a Tightrope: The Short Novel'' (1953) *''The Kidnappers and other Stories'' (1957) *''Something like a poem'' (1986)

Selected filmography

*'' The Kidnappers'' (US: ''The Little Kidnappers'', 1953) *''

Man on a Tightrope ''Man on a Tightrope'' is a 1953 American drama directed by Elia Kazan, starring Fredric March and Terry Moore and Gloria Grahame. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood was based on a 1952 novel of the same title by Neil Paterson. Paterson base ...

'' (1953) *''

Devil on Horseback ''Devil on Horseback'' is a 1954 British sports drama film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Googie Withers, John McCallum and Jeremy Spenser. Its plot involves a boy who pursues his ambition to be a jockey. The screenplay was by Scotti ...

'' (1954) *''

The Woman for Joe ''The Woman for Joe'' is a 1955 British drama film directed by George More O'Ferrall and starring Diane Cilento, George Baker, Jimmy Karoubi and David Kossoff. The screenplay concerns the owner of a circus sideshow and his prize attraction (a ...

'' (1955) *''

High Tide at Noon ''High Tide at Noon'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock. It was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. ''High Tide at Noon'' was based on the first of a series of novels by Elisabeth Ogilvie, set in Maine. Location w ...

'' (1957) *'' The Shiralee'' (1957) *''

Innocent Sinners ''Innocent Sinners'' is a 1958 British black and white film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Flora Robson. It was based on the 1955 novel '' An Episode of Sparrows'' by Rumer Godden. Plot Olivia Chesney is too sick to leave home, som ...

'' (1958) *'' Room at the Top'' (1959) *''

The Spiral Road ''The Spiral Road'' is a 1962 American adventure-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, Gena Rowlands, and Geoffrey Keen. The film was released by Universal-International in the United States in 1962, the sa ...

'' (1962)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Neil 1915 births 1995 deaths Scottish novelists Scottish screenwriters Scottish short story writers Scottish sportswriters Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Dundee United F.C. players Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Greenock Leith Athletic F.C. players Men's association football inside forwards 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights Edinburgh University A.F.C. players Buckie Thistle F.C. players Highland Football League players 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century British screenwriters