Novelist, biographer and contract scriptwriter at Warner Brothers, educated at Ohio and Columbia universities. He was chiefly noted for introducing the theme of post-war urban juvenile delinquency with his best-selling books "The Amboy Dukes" (1947), "Cry Tough" (1949) and "The Big Brokers" (1951). He also wrote the original treatment for Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which catapulted James Dean to stardom.
