Robb White
Encyclopedia
Robb White was a writer of screenplay
s, television scripts, and adventure novel
s; most of the latter had a maritime setting — often the Pacific
Navy
during World War II
. White was best known for juvenile
fiction
, though he has proven popular with adults as well. Nearly all his books are out of print; nevertheless, White has a devoted following among baby-boomers, many of whom were introduced to him through inexpensive paperback
s available in American
schools in the mid-20th century.
in Baguio
, Luzon
, in the Philippines
. At the time, White's father was working with the Igorots, though he later became an Army
chaplain
, and thus the young family — including Robb's brother and two sisters — traveled extensively before settling in Thomasville, Georgia
.
On a 1958 episode of TV's "This Is Your Life
," White's sister said that "young Bob was the proverbial minister's son, a rebel against all rules and full of deviltry" — as exemplified when the boy rolled eggs off the roof onto a Ladies' Auxiliary meeting on the front lawn.
White had no formal education before entering the Episcopal High School in New York city
, New York
. He later attended the U.S. Naval Academy
at Annapolis
, graduated as an ensign
in 1931, and then worked briefly as a draftsman
and construction engineer
for DuPont
.
In his 1953 memoir
Our Virgin Island, White says that by 1937 he "had been halfway round the world and back" and "sailed a schooner
around the Atlantic
for six months." During his stint on a Boston-based "floating school" with only one student, White one night swam ashore from two miles out after the schooner was crippled in a December storm.
, where the insects were so severe that White put his typewriter in a boat and wrote in the middle of the bay each day. The pair spent weeks sailing daily throughout the islands in search of a more suitable home.
One afternoon, after landing on what they thought was a large and well-known island, White walked off in one direction along the beach and Rodie in the other. Meeting less than half an hour later, they realized they had landed on a tiny island — 8 acres (3.2 ha) Marina Cay
, which they quickly purchased for US$
60.
The Whites spent three years on Marina, hacking a cistern out of the rough, rocky land and shipping in enough concrete to build a small, sturdy house. These adventurous years — during which the couple weathered a typhoon, fended off a randy Nazi skipper, aided Jewish refugees, and survived a surprise a visit from White's mother-in-law — are detailed in his memoirs In Privateer's Bay (1939), Our Virgin Island (1953), and Two on the Isle (1985).
White was recalled to military duty when World War II broke out; he flew as a pilot
, fought near his birthplace in the Battle of Leyte Gulf
(1944), and served on battleship
s, submarine
s, and aircraft carrier
s; he earned eight medals and retired with the rank of lieutenant commander
after five years of service.
At the same time as White's recall, he and Rodie lost Marina Cay; the British
government had never issued them a license to hold the land and now formally refused, stating that White's published writings had misrepresented conditions in the British Virgin Islands
; attitudes at the time were not as enlightened as now and Robb's portrayal of local citizens is now out of step with the times.
Today, Marina Cay is home to Pusser's Restaurant; the house Robb and Rodie built serves as a reading lounge for the modest tourist complex.
"A writer's writer, White truly lived his trade". He produced numerous articles and stories for The Saturday Evening Post
, Reader's Digest
, The Atlantic Monthly
, Esquire
, and Boys' Life
, as well as the Naval Institute's Proceedings
and various risqué publications; as he told interviewer Tom Weaver, "I wrote as a woman for True Stories and got raped in a hayloft about once a month"
White also wrote for TV, including "Men of Annapolis" and "Silent Service" (both 1957), plus episodes of Perry Mason
(1961–1965). In the late 1950s and early 1960s he teamed with horror film director William Castle
, best known for gimmicks such as a free "ghost viewer" and a vibrating electrical device mounted beneath the theater seats..jpg)
White and Castle turned out five films: Macabre
, 13 Ghosts
, Homicidal
, The Tingler
, and House on Haunted Hill
— the last two featuring Vincent Price
.
Despite all this, White is best known for his 24 novels. The early Run Masked (1938) was White's only effort at a work of adult-themed literature
. Most of his books are adventure stories aimed at younger readers — including The Lion's Paw (1946), Deathwatch (1972), Up Periscope
(1956) (filmed with James Garner
in 1959), Flight Deck (1961), Torpedo Run (1962), and The Survivor (1964). The last four of these — and many others — are set in the same Pacific Theater
where White served during World War II. Others — Lion's Paw, plus the rarer Sail Away (1948), Three Against the Sea (1940), and Smuggler's Sloop (1937) — feature youthful protagonist
s working together against the elements.
"White is on record saying that young people appreciate his work most. He attributed this to their good, decent and courageous nature — exactly the kind of people about whom he enjoyed writing. White confided to Something About the Author that he liked stories which dealt with ordinary people who survived in the face of terrible hardship ... White's work is typically hero-driven, a characteristic that emerges most clearly in Deathwatch where the protagonist battles not only his human persecutor, but the impersonal harshness of the American desert
... "
Several of his novels were popularized in the school-based Scholastic book-sale program in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s; now out of print, these 50-cent paperbacks currently sell for up to $50 on the Internet; rarer White hardbacks can fetch ten times that amount.
To the delight of White fans everywhere, in October 2008, a facsimile edition of The Lion's Paw was published by A. W. INK, a private company run by White's widow, Annie, and her daughter; it includes the same dust jacket as the original 1946 edition, along with the novel's original illustrations by Ralph Ray. This long-unavailable book can now be readily purchased at a variety of Internet sites.
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s, television scripts, and adventure novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s; most of the latter had a maritime setting — often the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. White was best known for juvenile
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
, though he has proven popular with adults as well. Nearly all his books are out of print; nevertheless, White has a devoted following among baby-boomers, many of whom were introduced to him through inexpensive paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
s available in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
schools in the mid-20th century.
Schools and schooners
Robb White III was born to Episcopal missionariesMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in Baguio
Baguio City
The City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. At the time, White's father was working with the Igorots, though he later became an Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
, and thus the young family — including Robb's brother and two sisters — traveled extensively before settling in Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...
.
On a 1958 episode of TV's "This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
," White's sister said that "young Bob was the proverbial minister's son, a rebel against all rules and full of deviltry" — as exemplified when the boy rolled eggs off the roof onto a Ladies' Auxiliary meeting on the front lawn.
White had no formal education before entering the Episcopal High School in New York city
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He later attended the U.S. Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
at Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, graduated as an ensign
Ensign
An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
in 1931, and then worked briefly as a draftsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
and construction engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
for DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
.
In his 1953 memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
Our Virgin Island, White says that by 1937 he "had been halfway round the world and back" and "sailed a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
around the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
for six months." During his stint on a Boston-based "floating school" with only one student, White one night swam ashore from two miles out after the schooner was crippled in a December storm.
Their virgin island
In 1937, White married Rosalie "Rodie" Mason; the couple settled in Sea Cows Bay on the island of TortolaTortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
, where the insects were so severe that White put his typewriter in a boat and wrote in the middle of the bay each day. The pair spent weeks sailing daily throughout the islands in search of a more suitable home.
One afternoon, after landing on what they thought was a large and well-known island, White walked off in one direction along the beach and Rodie in the other. Meeting less than half an hour later, they realized they had landed on a tiny island — 8 acres (3.2 ha) Marina Cay
Marina Cay
Marina Cay is an island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.The island was uninhabited until 1937, when author Robb White and newly married wife Rosalie “Rodie” Mason settled on the island...
, which they quickly purchased for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
60.
The Whites spent three years on Marina, hacking a cistern out of the rough, rocky land and shipping in enough concrete to build a small, sturdy house. These adventurous years — during which the couple weathered a typhoon, fended off a randy Nazi skipper, aided Jewish refugees, and survived a surprise a visit from White's mother-in-law — are detailed in his memoirs In Privateer's Bay (1939), Our Virgin Island (1953), and Two on the Isle (1985).
White was recalled to military duty when World War II broke out; he flew as a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, fought near his birthplace in the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...
(1944), and served on battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s, submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, and aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s; he earned eight medals and retired with the rank of lieutenant commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
after five years of service.
At the same time as White's recall, he and Rodie lost Marina Cay; the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
government had never issued them a license to hold the land and now formally refused, stating that White's published writings had misrepresented conditions in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
; attitudes at the time were not as enlightened as now and Robb's portrayal of local citizens is now out of step with the times.
Today, Marina Cay is home to Pusser's Restaurant; the house Robb and Rodie built serves as a reading lounge for the modest tourist complex.
"A writer's writer"
White was determined to be a writer from the age of 13. While working for DuPont, he returned home each day and wrote from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. In 1931, he quit DuPont after selling his first story to American Boy for $100."A writer's writer, White truly lived his trade". He produced numerous articles and stories for The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
, The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, and Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...
, as well as the Naval Institute's Proceedings
Proceedings (magazine)
Proceedings is a monthly magazine published by the United States Naval Institute since 1874. The 96-page publication features articles about Naval and Military matters written by active and retired military personnel plus renowned authors and scholars of their subject.-External links:* * ** by...
and various risqué publications; as he told interviewer Tom Weaver, "I wrote as a woman for True Stories and got raped in a hayloft about once a month"
White also wrote for TV, including "Men of Annapolis" and "Silent Service" (both 1957), plus episodes of Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
(1961–1965). In the late 1950s and early 1960s he teamed with horror film director William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
, best known for gimmicks such as a free "ghost viewer" and a vibrating electrical device mounted beneath the theater seats.
Macabre (1958 film)
Macabre is a 1958 thriller film directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring William Prince, Jim Backus, Christine White, Jacqueline Scott, and Susan Morrow. It is considered Castle's first foray into using the promotional gimmicks that later made him famous...
, 13 Ghosts
13 Ghosts
13 Ghosts is a 1960 horror film directed by William Castle and written by Robb White. To the dismay of some of the cast members, Castle gave top billing to 12-year-old Charles Herbert. It was remade in 2001 under the title of Thirteen Ghosts, directed by Steve Beck.-Plot:When occultist uncle Dr...
, Homicidal
Homicidal
Homicidal is a 1961 thriller film produced and directed by the self-proclaimed "King of Showmanship", William Castle. Written by Robb White, the film stars Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce, Richard Rust, and Joan Marshall...
, The Tingler
The Tingler
The Tingler is a 1959 horror-thriller film by American producer/director William Castle. It is the third of five collaborations with writer Robb White and stars Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts, Pamela Lincoln, Philip Coolidge and Judith Evelyn.The film tells the story of a scientist...
, and House on Haunted Hill
House on Haunted Hill
House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American B movie horror film from Allied Artists. It was directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "Haunted...
— the last two featuring Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
.
Despite all this, White is best known for his 24 novels. The early Run Masked (1938) was White's only effort at a work of adult-themed literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. Most of his books are adventure stories aimed at younger readers — including The Lion's Paw (1946), Deathwatch (1972), Up Periscope
Up Periscope
Up Periscope is a 1959 World War II drama starring James Garner as a Navy frogman fighting the Japanese. The supporting cast includes Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, and Alan Hale, Jr.. The film was written by Richard H. Landau and Robb White from White's novel, produced by Aubrey Schenk, and...
(1956) (filmed with James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
in 1959), Flight Deck (1961), Torpedo Run (1962), and The Survivor (1964). The last four of these — and many others — are set in the same Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
where White served during World War II. Others — Lion's Paw, plus the rarer Sail Away (1948), Three Against the Sea (1940), and Smuggler's Sloop (1937) — feature youthful protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s working together against the elements.
"White is on record saying that young people appreciate his work most. He attributed this to their good, decent and courageous nature — exactly the kind of people about whom he enjoyed writing. White confided to Something About the Author that he liked stories which dealt with ordinary people who survived in the face of terrible hardship ... White's work is typically hero-driven, a characteristic that emerges most clearly in Deathwatch where the protagonist battles not only his human persecutor, but the impersonal harshness of the American desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
... "
Several of his novels were popularized in the school-based Scholastic book-sale program in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s; now out of print, these 50-cent paperbacks currently sell for up to $50 on the Internet; rarer White hardbacks can fetch ten times that amount.
To the delight of White fans everywhere, in October 2008, a facsimile edition of The Lion's Paw was published by A. W. INK, a private company run by White's widow, Annie, and her daughter; it includes the same dust jacket as the original 1946 edition, along with the novel's original illustrations by Ralph Ray. This long-unavailable book can now be readily purchased at a variety of Internet sites.
Later life
- White was a member of the 1950 HarvardHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
anthropological expedition to the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East... - Robb and Rodie White were divorced in 1964; they had three children — Robb, Barbara, and June.
- Robb White IV (1941–2006) was a well-known GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
boat-builder and author of How to Build a Tin Canoe: Confessions of an Old Salt (2003) - June, better known as Bailey WhiteBailey WhiteJune Bailey White is an American author and a regular radio commentator for the National Public Radio program All Things Considered....
, is a commentator for NPR and author of Mama Makes Up Her Mind (1993), Sleeping at the Starlight Motel (1995), and Quite a Year for Plums (1998). In her audio book "Ostrich Farmer and Other Stories," Bailey reminisces about her father's movie career in her story "Father's Feet." - In the mid-1960s, White married Joan Gannon, a Beverly Hills stockbroker. According to the Laurel Leaf paperback edition of Deathwatch — the only White book still in print — he was married to Mrs. Alice White at the time of his death in 1990
- He lived in Thomasville, GeorgiaThomasville, GeorgiaThomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...
(where he and Rodie settled after returning from the CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
), Malibu and Montecito, Calif.Montecito, CaliforniaMontecito is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California. As a census-designated place, it had a population of 8,965 in 2010. This does not include areas such as Coast Village Road, that, while usually considered part of Montecito, are actually within the city limits of Santa...
, England, Ireland, Scotland, the West Indies and the French Riviera, as well as Lake Havasu CityLake Havasu City, Arizona-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 41,938 people, 17,911 households, and 12,716 families residing in the city. The population density was 974.4 people per square mile . There were 23,018 housing units at an average density of 534.8 per square mile...
, ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
— the setting for Deathwatch - White died in 1990 as a result of head injuries suffered in a car accident
Awards
- 1937 New York Herald Tribune prize for best older boys' book of the year, Smuggler's Sloop
- 1972 ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults, Deathwatch
- 1972 New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, Deathwatch
- 1973 Edgar AwardEdgar AwardThe Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Juvenile Mystery of the Year, Deathwatch
Movie versions
- Our Virgin Island was filmed as Virgin Island in 1958; it starred John CassavetesJohn CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
, Sidney PoitierSidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
, and Ruby DeeRuby DeeRuby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby... - Up PeriscopeUp PeriscopeUp Periscope is a 1959 World War II drama starring James Garner as a Navy frogman fighting the Japanese. The supporting cast includes Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, and Alan Hale, Jr.. The film was written by Richard H. Landau and Robb White from White's novel, produced by Aubrey Schenk, and...
was directed by Gordon DouglasGordon Douglas (director)Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...
in 1959, with James GarnerJames GarnerJames Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
, Edmond O'BrienEdmond O'BrienEdmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
, Frank Gifford, and Edd Byrnes - Deathwatch was made for television as Savages in 1974; it featured Andy GriffithAndy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
as the villain - White's scripts inspired remakes of House on Haunted Hill (1999) and Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
External links
- Complete bibliography
- Robb White on IMDB
- Robb White's papers at USM
- Website for Robb White IV
- Photo of Marina Cay & info on Pusser's
- Official site for The Lion's Paw and other Robb White information
- Magazine stories http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/s2238.htm#A86827