Overview
- A Harvard College and Harvard Law graduate, he left a Boston law firm to launch a late‑1960s screenwriting career.
- He broke through with 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair and co-wrote Bullitt the same year, both starring Steve McQueen.
- He helped shape Bullitt by recommending director Peter Yates and proposing the Ford Mustang for the film’s chase sequences.
- Later work included They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970), Lady Ice and Hit!, plus a story credit on the 1999 Thomas Crown remake.
- He taught screenwriting at Harvard, NYU and the University of Miami, wrote novels, and is survived by his wife Barbara, children John and Laurie, his sister Patty, and 11 grandchildren.