Thaindian News

Budd Schulberg, who wrote the Oscar winning screen play for the Marlon Brando classic “On The Waterfront” took his last breath on Wednesday. He was 95. According to the sources, Schulberg, the son of a studio boss who had earlier redefined Hollywood with his brilliant novel “What Makes Sammy Run?”, died of natural causes at his home in Westhampton Beach on Long Island. The aforementioned report was confirmed by his surviving wife, Betsy Schulberg. The grieving widow said that Schulberg was taken to a nearby medical center where the doctors repeatedly failed to revive him.

“On The Waterfront”, the film directed by Elia Kazan and filmed by Hoboken NJ, was released in the year 1954. The Marlon Brando classic fetched as many as 8 Academy Awards and comprised of one of the famous lines in the history of cinema, uttered by Brando as the failed boxer Terry Malloy who said, “I coulda been a contender.”

Although Schulber never matched his excellence that he had created in “On The Waterfront”, but the author went on to write numerous books, teleplays and screenplays which also included the Kazan directed “A Face In The Crowd”.

Schulberg, who claimed that he had been a communist between the year 1936-1939 had reportedly said that he was disillusioned by Stalin’s non-aggression pact with Hitler and quit the part when he was asked to write “What Makes Sammy Run?” with a Marxist twist.

While speaking to the media, Betsy Schulberg said, “He was very loved and cherished.” Schulberg is survived by his wife Betsy and four children. The sad demise of a great author brings and end of an era.