Richard Price (writer) facts for kids

Richard Price (born on October 12, 1949) is an American writer. He is famous for his novels and for writing scripts for movies and TV shows. His books often show a realistic look at city life in America during the late 1900s. Some of his stories are set in a made-up city in New Jersey called Dempsy.

Price has written many well-known books, including The Wanderers (1974), Clockers (1992), and Lush Life (2008). He also wrote screenplays for popular TV dramas like The Wire, The Outsider, and The Night Of. He was even nominated for an Academy Award (an Oscar) for his work on the movie The Color of Money.

Early Life and School

Richard Price was born in the Bronx, New York City. His father was a window dresser. Richard grew up in a housing project, which is a group of apartment buildings. He has described himself as a "lower middle class Jewish kid."

He went to the Bronx High School of Science, a special school for students interested in science. After high school, he studied at Cornell University and then at Columbia University. He earned degrees from both universities. He also did more studies at Stanford University.

Writing Career

Richard Price started his writing career with his first novel, The Wanderers, published in 1974. He was only 24 years old when he wrote this book. It's a story about growing up, set in the Bronx in 1962. This book was later made into a movie in 1979.

Novels and Books

His novel Clockers, released in 1992, was nominated for a major book award. In 1995, this book was also turned into a film directed by Spike Lee. Richard Price helped write the movie script.

In 2008, Price published Lush Life. Another writer, Walter Kirn, compared Price's writing style to famous authors like Raymond Chandler. In 2010, an art show in New York City was inspired by Lush Life.

Richard Price also wrote a detective novel called The Whites. He used a different name, called a pen name, for this book: Harry Brandt. The book came out in 2015, and a movie version is being made.

Screenwriting for Film and TV

Price has written many screenplays, which are scripts for movies. Some of his well-known movie scripts include:

• The Color of Money (1986), which earned him an Oscar nomination.
• Life Lessons (1989), a part of the movie New York Stories.
• Sea of Love (1989).
• Mad Dog and Glory (1993).
• Ransom (1996).
• Shaft (2000).
• Child 44, released in 2015.

He also helped with the script for the movie American Gangster (2007) without being officially credited. He was also an executive producer for the film Ethan Frome (1993).

Beyond movies, Price has written for many TV shows. He wrote for the HBO series The Wire and won an award for his work on its fifth season in 2008. He created a police drama series called NYC 22 in 2012, but it ran for only one season.

His eight-part HBO miniseries The Night Of started in July 2016. Another HBO series, The Deuce, which he co-wrote and helped produce, began in September 2017. He also worked as the main producer for the 2020 HBO miniseries The Outsider, which was based on a book by Stephen King.

Sometimes, Richard Price even appears in small acting roles in the movies he writes.

Other Works and Teaching

Richard Price has written articles for famous magazines and newspapers like The New York Times, Esquire, and The New Yorker. He has also taught writing at several universities, including Columbia University and New York University.

Awards and Recognition

In 1999, Richard Price received an Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He became a member of the Academy in 2009.

Personal Life

Richard Price lives in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. He is married to Lorraine Adams, who is also a journalist and author.

See also

In Spanish: Richard Price (escritor) para niños