Robert Ward (novelist & screenwriter)
Encyclopedia
Robert Ward is an American
writer. He is a native of Baltimore
currently living in Los Angeles
and has numerous credits to his name such as novelist, teacher, journalist, screenwriter, producer and actor.
in Baltimore with only his manuscript and guitar before his block was burned down.
Some chapters from Shedding Skin were published in the Winter 1970 Carolina Quarterly. It was published by Harper & Row in 1972. After publication it won the National Endowment of the Arts award for first novel of exceptional merit.
Cattle Annie and Little Britches was adapted into a movie in 1981 that was directed by Lamont Johnson
. Ward adapted his own novel. It saw some favorable responses from critics, including praise from The New York Times
, before being pulled from theaters after only one week.
After the publication of Red Baker it was optioned and Ward wrote a screenplay for it. David Milch read the screenplay and offered Ward a job on Hill Street Blues
. The episode "Oh You Kid" was based on the pitch.
Red Baker won the Pen West Award as The Best Novel Published in the United States in 1985.
Grace is a fictional biography of his grandmother, a Baltimore activist in the Civil Rights Movement
.
Four Kinds of Rain was a 2006 nominee for the Hammett Prize
.
Ward's next novel is titled Total Immunity and came out in 2009. It will be the first book in a series with an F.B.I. protagonist, Agent Jack Harper.
. While living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco he began working on his first novel, Shedding Skin, before moving back to Baltimore for its completion. After the publication of his fourth novel, Red Baker, in 1985 he was approached by David Milch and offered a job to write for Hill Street Blues. He continues to write and produce television shows and movies as well publish novels.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer. He is a native of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
currently living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and has numerous credits to his name such as novelist, teacher, journalist, screenwriter, producer and actor.
Novelist
Shedding Skin was published in 1972 and took five years to complete. Ward worked on it for two years while living in a hippie commune in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. He destroyed the first draft of the manuscript before moving back to Baltimore where he began working on it once again. In 1968, in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he escaped the North Ave. riotsBaltimore riot of 1968
The Baltimore Riot of 1968 began two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Rioting broke out in 125 cities across the United States, and spread to the city of Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, April 6. The Governor of Maryland, Spiro T...
in Baltimore with only his manuscript and guitar before his block was burned down.
Some chapters from Shedding Skin were published in the Winter 1970 Carolina Quarterly. It was published by Harper & Row in 1972. After publication it won the National Endowment of the Arts award for first novel of exceptional merit.
Cattle Annie and Little Britches was adapted into a movie in 1981 that was directed by Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards....
. Ward adapted his own novel. It saw some favorable responses from critics, including praise from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, before being pulled from theaters after only one week.
After the publication of Red Baker it was optioned and Ward wrote a screenplay for it. David Milch read the screenplay and offered Ward a job on Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
. The episode "Oh You Kid" was based on the pitch.
Red Baker won the Pen West Award as The Best Novel Published in the United States in 1985.
Grace is a fictional biography of his grandmother, a Baltimore activist in the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
.
Four Kinds of Rain was a 2006 nominee for the Hammett Prize
Hammett Prize
The Hammett Prize is awarded annually by the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch to a Canadian or US citizen or permanent resident for a book in English in the field of crime writing...
.
Ward's next novel is titled Total Immunity and came out in 2009. It will be the first book in a series with an F.B.I. protagonist, Agent Jack Harper.
Personal life
Robert Ward was born in Baltimore, Maryland. When he was 15 years old he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Grace, a local social activist. He did his undergraduate work at Towson State University before earning his MFA in writing at the University of ArkansasUniversity of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
. While living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco he began working on his first novel, Shedding Skin, before moving back to Baltimore for its completion. After the publication of his fourth novel, Red Baker, in 1985 he was approached by David Milch and offered a job to write for Hill Street Blues. He continues to write and produce television shows and movies as well publish novels.
Novels
- Shedding Skin (1972)
- Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1977)
- The Sandman (1978)
- Red Baker (1985)
- The King of Cards (1993)
- The Cactus Garden (1995)
- Grace (1998)
- Four Kinds of Rain (2006)
- Total Immunity (forthcoming 2009)
Writer
- Cattle Annie and Little Britches
- Hill Street Blues :
- Episode 6.6 "Oh You Kid"
- Episode 6.10 "The Virgin and the Turkey"
- Episode 6.11 "Two Easy Pieces"
- Episode 6.12 "Say It as it Plays"
- Episode 6.14 "Scales of Justice"
- Episode 6.18 "Iced Coffey"
- Episode 6.21 "Slum Enchanted Evening"
- Episode 7.3 "The Best Defense"
- Episode 7.7 "Amazing Grace"
- Episode 7.8 "Falling From Grace"
- Episode 7.17 "The Cookie Crumbles"
- Miami Vice :
- Episode 5.2 "Redemption in Blood: Part 4"
- Episode 5.7 "Asian Cut"
- Episode 5.8 "Hard Knocks"
- Episode 5.11 "Miami Squeeze"
- Episode 5.12 "Jack of All Trades"
- Episode 5.15 "Over the Line"
- Episode 5.19 "Miracle Man"
- Episode 5.20 "Leap of Faith"
- C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf
- Brotherhood of the Gun
- Green Dolphin Beat
- New York Undercover :
- Episode 5.11 "Olde Thyme Religion"
- Episode 5.12 "All in the Family"
- Episode 5.15 "You Get No Respect"
- Episode 5.19 "Blondes Have More Fun"