Meade Roberts (13 June 1930 in New York City – 10 February 1992 in New York City) was an American screenwriter who collaborated with

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

on the screenplays for the films '' The Fugitive Kind'' (1960) and ''

Summer and Smoke ''Summer and Smoke'' is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, completed in 1948. He began working on the play in 1945 as ''Chart of Anatomy'', derived from his short stories "Oriflamme" and "Yellow Bird", the latter still a wor ...

'' (1961), both based on plays by Williams. In other work for films, Roberts wrote the screenplay for ''The Stripper'' (1963), starring Joanne Woodward, by adapting

William Inge William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broad ...

's play ''A Loss of Roses'' and wrote the screenplay for the movie ''

In the Cool of the Day ''In the Cool of the Day'' is a 1963 British-American romantic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Metrocolor and Panavision. The film is directed by Robert Stevens and starring Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Hill, an ...

'' (1963), starring Peter Finch and Jane Fonda, by adapting

Susan Ertz Susan Ertz (13 February 1887 – 11 April 1985) was an Anglo-American writer, known for her "sentimental tales of Landed gentry, genteel life in the country."''Contemporary Authors'', Thomson Gale, August 2003. She was born in Walton-on-T ...

's novel of the same name. Roberts also was an actor in two

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self- ...

films: ''

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' is a 1976 American neo-noir crime film written and directed by John Cassavetes and starring Ben Gazzara. A rough and gritty film, this is the second of their three collaborations, following ''Husbands'' and p ...

'' (1976) and '' Opening Night'' (1977). Roberts's play ''A Palm Tree in a Rose Garden'' (1957) had an off-Broadway run in NYC from November 26, 1957 to January 19, 1958, with

Barbara Baxley Barbara Angie Rose Baxley (January 1, 1923 – June 7, 1990) was an American actress and singer. Early life Barbara Baxley was born on January 1, 1923 in Porterville California to Bert and Emma Baxley. She had an older sister. She attended Uni ...

as Barbara Parris. In 1960,

Tomás Milián Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa (3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring ...

appeared at

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

Festival dei Due Mondi The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conc ...

in Roberts's one-act play ''Maidens and Mistresses at Home in the Zoo'' (1958), written specifically for him. Meade Roberts wrote television scripts for such shows as CBS's ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

'' (1949–1955), NBC's '' The Kate Smith Evening Hour'' (1951–1952), and CBS's ''

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'' is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to ''Schlitz Playh ...

'' (1951–1959). He adapted Henry James's novel ''

The Wings of the Dove ''The Wings of the Dove'' is a 1902 novel by Henry James. It tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honourable ...

'' for

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

, which aired January 8, 1959, season 3, episode 14, with

Dana Wynter Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-kn ...

as Kate Croy,

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian mi ...

as Merton Densher, and

Inga Swenson Inga Swenson (December 29, 1932 – July 23, 2023) was an American actress and singer. She appeared in multiple Broadway productions and was nominated twice for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performances as Lizzie Curry ...

as Milly Theale.

NTA Film Network The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956 that operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios. Despite attracting more ...

Play of the Week Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

aired a teleplay of Roberts's play ''A Palm Tree in a Rose Garden'' on April 4, 1960, season 1, episode 26, with

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classic Hollywood films. Her career spanned more than 50 years, and she appeared in numerous Broadwa ...

as Rose Frobisher,

Barbara Barrie Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author. Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film '' One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awa ...

as Lila Frobisher,

Robert Webber Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, including as Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film '' 12 Angry Men''. Early life Webber was the son of Robert Webber, ...

as Anton Jonas, and

as Barbara Parris. He died of a heart attack in New York City on February 10, 1992.

Filmography

References

External links

* American male screenwriters 1930 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screen-writer-1930s-stub