James White

Background

White was born on November 15, 1947, in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.

Career

A love of reading led White to pursue a career as a writer He served in the United States. Navy before enrolling at the University of Massachusetts. He left the university after a year and worked a series of jobs in the Boston area.

He moved to Los Angeles during the 1970s to pursue screenwriting.

Poitier hired White to 1992 to pen the screenplay for a thriller called "Red Money." The film was never made, but it marked White"s breakthrough into screenwriting after decades of attempts. White was working on two screenplays at the time of his death in 2015 - a biopic on Bessie Smith titled "Empress of the Blues" and second film focusing on Dinah Washington, which is in pre-production.

White died from complications of liver and pancreatic cancer at his home in Santa Monica, California, on July 23, 2015, at the age of 67.

Achievements

• White received a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for his work on Ray.

Connections

Friend:

Sidney Poitier