James Lee Barrett


James Lee Barrett was an American author, producer and screenwriter.

Biography

Barrett was born in 1929 in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated in 1950 from Anderson University. Prior to his career as a screenwriter, he served in the United States Marines.
His first screenplay was for the 1957 film, The D.I., which starred Jack Webb as a Marine Corps drill instructor at MCRD Parris Island. Barrett had been on Parris Island as a recruit in 1950 and served in the Korean War.
Barrett, along with Peter Udell and Phillip Rose won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Shenandoah, which was based on his 1965 film by the same name, which starred James Stewart.
Other notable works written by Barrett include the 1965 epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told, Smokey and the Bandit, The Green Berets, Bandolero! and co-writing On the Beach. Barrett also scripted a made-for-TV remake of The Defiant Ones, and adapted the 1967 movie In the Heat of the Night for a weekly series. Barrett wrote and produced ...tick...tick...tick..., a similarly-themed Southern crime drama starring Jim Brown and George Kennedy.

Death

Barrett died in Templeton, California in 1989 of cancer, aged 59.

Select Credits