Robert Wright Campbell (June 9, 1927–September 21, 2000), often credited as R. Wright Campbell or Robert Campbell, was an American screenwriter, author and occasional actor. He was the brother of actor William Campbell and brother in law of Judith Campbell Exner. He wrote ten television series, including Maverick and Marcus Welby, M.D..
Biography Campbell was born in Newark, New Jersey. He studied painting at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, intending to be a commercial artist. He was drafted into the US Army during the Korean War. When he asked his brother William how much he earned for acting, he went to Hollywood after his discharge.
Hollywood Campbell began writing for anthology series such as Loretta Young Theatre.
Through his brother William, Campbell met Roger Corman for whom he wrote the screen play Five Guns West (1955), which was the first film Corman directed.
Campbell sold two original Western scripts to Universal, Gun for a Coward and Quantez. Both ended up being made with Fred MacMurray.Drama: Actor-Writer Campbell Busy Western Scripter Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 28 Oct 1955: 27.
He also sold two stories to Kirk Douglas's Bryna Productions: King Kelly about a soldier who sets himself up as a ruler in the South West after the Civil War,FILM GROUP ADDS FINANCING SET-UP By THOMAS M. PRYOR New York Times 15 Dec 1955: 50 and The Allison Brothers.COLUMBIA ERUPTS WITH MOVIE IDEA By THOMAS M. PRYOR New York Times 19 Feb 1955: 18 Neither was made.
In 1956 he and his brother announced they had purchased a story about John Ashley, Requiem for an Outlaw and intended to make it independently but the film was not made.34 FILMS PLANNED BY FOX THIS YEAR By THOMAS M. PRYOR New York Times 04 Jan 1956: 23.
Campbell was hired to work on the screenplay Man of a Thousand Faces, the biography of Lon Chaney. The producer deliberately picked a young writer who would not be influenced by "nostalgia". The script was reworked by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts but Campbell kept his screen credit.A Town Called Hollywood: Cagney, as Chaney, Will Be 'Man of Thousand Faces' Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 28 Oct 1956: E2. All the writers were nominated for Best Screenplay.
Campbell did a fourth script for Universal, Beneath the Roses, but it was not made.Universal Buys Script New York Times 30 Aug 1956: 19
He wrote for several Warner Bros. Television shows such as Maverick, Bronco and Hawaiian Eye.
He reworked Five Guns West for Corman as The Secret Invasion. He planned to follow it with The Deserters another WW2 tale for CormanMenotti Opera to Be Filmed Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 31 Dec 1965: a14. but it appears to have not been made.
In 1972 he wrote Whistler for Corman, a biopic of James Abbott Whistler.S-s-s-s-s . . . It's the Snakes!: It's the Snakes By A. H. WEILER. New York Times 24 Sep 1972: D15.
Novels Campbell left screenwriting and turned to novels after visiting Carmel-by-the-Sea, California where he moved to. His first novel was The Spy Who Sat and Waited (1975).
He wrote several novels of Los Angeles that he called "La-La Land" with a hero named James Whistler in Alice in La-La Land and In La-La Land We Trust, a series of Jimmy Flannery novels beginning with The Junkyard Dog (awarded the Edgar Award and Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original) and The Cat's Meow and two Jake Hatch novels.
His 1978 novel, Where Pigeons Go to Die, was adapted into a television film of the same title for NBC by actor and filmmaker Michael Landon.
Death Campbell died at Hospice House on September 21, 2000, in Monterey, California at the age of 73.
Legacy On February 2, 2003, the Robert Campbell Balcony over the Harrison Memorial Library's main reading room was named in his honor.
Quentin Tarantino praised Campbell's script for Machine Gun Kelly as the best script Corman ever shot. Filmink argued "Campbell never really got his due as a writer but his reputation has risen in recent years."
Writings Screenplays
The Loretta Young Show - "Thanksgiving in Beaver Run" (1954) Five Guns West (1955) - also appeared as actor The Star and the Story (1955) - episode "Hand to Hand" Medic (1955) - episode "All the Lonely Night" Cheyenne (1955–56) - episodes "The Outlander", "The Storm Riders" Gun for a Coward (1957) Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) Quantez (1957) Machine Gun Kelly (1958) Maverick (1958) - episode "Rope of Cards" Teenage Caveman (1958) Maverick (1960) - episode "Cruise of the Cynthia B" Bronco (1960) - episode "Tangled Trail" A Terrible Beauty (1960) Hawaiian Eye (1962) .- episode "An Echo of Honor" The Young Racers (1963) - also acted The Masque of the Red Death (1964) The Secret Invasion (1964) 12 O'Clock High - episode "The Duel at Mont Sainte Marie" (1967) Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969) Marcus Welby, M.D. (1974) - episode "No Charity for the MacAllisters")
Novels
The Spy Who Sat and Waited (1975) Where Pigeons Go to Die (1978) Circus Couronne (1979) Malloy's Subway (1981) The Junkyard Dog (1986) In La-La Land We Trust (1986) Alice in La-La Land (1987) The 600-Pound Gorilla (1987) Hip Deep in Alligators (1987) Juice (1988) Thinning the Turkey Herd (1988) The Cat's Meow (1988) Plugged Nickel (1988) Nibbled to Death by Ducks (1989) Red Cent (1989) Sweet La-La Land (1990) The Gift Horse's Mouth (1990) Boneyards (1992) In a Pig's Eye (1992) The Wizard of La-La Land (1995) Sauce for the Goose (1996) The Lion's Share (1996) Pigeon Pie (1998)
Plays Wondersmith (1978)STAGE REVIEW: 'Wondersmith': Bonhomie in Bohemia Christon, Lawrence. Los Angeles Times 08 Feb 1978: f12. Quadruped (1991)
As Actor Only Cell 2455, Death Row (1955)
Notes
External links
Obituary at The Guardian