Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards in his career, he was best known for Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry, In Cold Blood (1967) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).
Brooks in 1986
Richard Brooks on set at MGM studios, 1950's
Brooks and Peter O'Toole on Lord Jim (1965) set in Cambodia
Writer Truman Capote and Brooks in 1968
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack, for casting grown adults as high school teens, and for the unique breakout role of a black cast member, film icon Sidney Poitier, as a rebellious yet musically talented student.
Theatrical release poster
Drive-in advertisement from 1955.