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Donald Westlake, novelist, screenwriter, RIP (1933-2008)

Posted by Harmonia on January 6, 2009 at 22:12:02:
One of my favorite mystery/crime writers, Donald Westlake, passed away new year's eve of an apparent heart attack.

He was screenwriter of the wonderful and perfectly nasty Scorsese produced film, The Grifters, one of the best of the neo-noirs. Directed by Stephen Frears, it starred Annette Benning, John Cussack and Angelica Houston in a role she should have won an Oscar for. Westlake won the Edgar Award for The Grifters and was nominated for an Oscar. In this adaptation of the Jim Thomson novel, you can detect Westlake's typically dry humour and elaborate plotting in the backstory of Myra and her mentor.

I loved Westlake's droll Dortmunder books, which followed the misadventures of a hapless NYC crime genius and his band of characters over the course of many hilarious and clever novels. Westlake was also a friend of crime fiction writer lawrence Block with whom he occassionally collaborated. Westlake was also famous for his "Parker" novels, penned uner the pseudonym Richard Stark. Frankly, good as the Parker books are, I prefer the ingenuity and humour of Dortmunder.

Several of Westlake's novels were made into motion pictures, with varying degrees of fidelity and success, including Point Blank with Lee Marvin, The Hot Rock with Robert Redford (totally miscast as Dortmunder), Cops and Robbers, The Outfit with Robert Duvall, Bank Shot with George C. Scott, Payback and a loosely adapted take on The Ax from Costa-Gavras that was well received in Europe but which I have never seen. Godard lifted chunks of Westlake's book The Jugger for his Made In USA without purchasing screen rights from the author. Westlake successfully sued and prevented the film's release in the US for many years. The rights situation was apparently resolved before Westlake's death: Criterion is finally bringing it out on DVD this year and it's getting screenings in NYC and LA, possibly elsewhere (Music Box in Chicago maybe).

Westlake took some screenwriting jobs for hire (The Stepfather, and Tomorrow Never Dies). Hollywood was not necessarily kind to his novels. Westlake took the pay checks and sighed.

But...

No more Dortmunders...sob.