From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Burt Kennedy September 3 1922 February 15 2001 was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division Muskegon Michiganborn Kennedy found work writing for radio then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and fencing stunt doubles in films That led to Kennedy being hired to write for a television program with a fencing theme for John Waynes Batjac productions Although the TV program was never produced it led the young writer to write screenplays for a number of Batjac films starting with the 1956 film Seven Men from Now In the 1960s after also becoming a film director Kennedy moved on to write for western television programs Description above from the Wikipedia article Burt Kennedy licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia