Richard Brooks May 18 1912 March 11 1992 was an American screenwriter director novelist and occasional producer His outstanding works as director are Blackboard Jungle 1955 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Elmer Gantry 1960 for which he won an Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay In Cold Blood 1967 and Looking for Mr Goodbar 1977 Brooks was one of the relatively few filmmakers whose careers bridged the transition from the classic studio system to the independent productions that marked the 1960s and beyond He was also among the postwar writerdirectors who made some of their best films as they struggled to break free of industry censorship His legacy is that of a filmmaker who sought independence in a collaborative art and tried to bring his own vision to the screen Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Brooks licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia