Background

Philip Yordan was born to Polish Jewish immigrants on April 1, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois. From a young age he had taken an interest in writing.

Education

As a teenager, he ran a mail-order beauty supply business out of the family basement. Yordan was an avid fan of detective stories; he contemplated a career as a writer. After graduating from high school, he earned a law degree but became dissuaded and pursued writing, eventually becoming a screenwriter.

Career

Some of his films include The Chase (1946), Whistle Stop (1946), House of Strangers (1949), Houdini (1953), Broken Lance (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Big Combo (1955), The Harder They Fall (1956), The Bravados (1958) with Men in War (1957) and God's Little Acre (1958), officially credited to Yordan, but the two films actually were written by Ben Maddow. He worked several times in collaboration with independent producer Samuel Bronston and contributed to the screenplays of such films as King of Kings (1961), El Cid (1961), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Circus World (1964), and Night Train to Terror (1985).

Works

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  • The Fall of the Roman Empire: Alec Guinness, Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, James Mason

    (Buy The Fall of the Roman Empire: Read 254 Movies & TV Re...)

  • Battle of the Bulge: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy Battle of the Bulge: Read 1073 Movies & TV Reviews - ...)

  • King of Kings (1961): Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Rita Gam: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy King of Kings (1961): Read 630 Movies & TV Reviews - ...)

  • Crack In The World: Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore, Alexander Knox: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy Crack In The World: Read 394 Movies & TV Reviews - Am...)

  • Johnny Guitar: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy Johnny Guitar: Read 166 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazon.com)

Connections

He was married four times. Upon his death he was survived by his fourth wife, five children, and two grandchildren.