A. I. Bezzerides was born in Samsun, in what was then the Ottoman Empire. His father was of Greek descent, and his mother was of Armenian heritage. They immigrated to the United States when Bezzerides was very young, before he reached the age of two. His father initially worked in agriculture but later became a trucker, transporting produce.

Bezzerides made his home in the Van Dekker House designed by architect Rudolph Schindler, located in Woodland Hills, California. Starting in the late 1940s, Bezzerides was in a long-term relationship with Silvia Richards, who was also a screenwriter. A. I. Bezzerides passed away at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills.

Career

Bezzerides started writing short stories while he was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was studying electrical engineering. His first published story, titled “Passage Into Eternity,” appeared in a 1935 issue of Story Magazine.In 1938, he wrote a novel called “The Long Haul,” which was about the trucking industry. Warner Bros. offered him $2,000 for the movie rights in 1940. However, Bezzerides discovered that the script for the film, titled “They Drive By Night” and starring Humphrey Bogart and George Raft, had already been written by someone else. Nevertheless, the resulting movie became both a critical and commercial success.

The movie studio also gave Bezzerides a job as a screenwriter, offering him $300 a week. Back then, he was working as a communications engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Looking back, Bezzerides said, “I wasn’t sure if Warner Bros. offered me a seven-year contract out of guilt, a sense of right and wrong, or just to get more stories from me. But I eagerly accepted the offer to escape my unfulfilling career as an engineer and step into a completely new world of writing.”His very first screenplay was for the 1942 film “Juke Girl,” which featured actors like Ann Sheridan and Ronald Reagan.

Movies adapted from his writings or screenplays included “Desert Fury” (1947), “Thieves’ Highway” (1949), “On Dangerous Ground” (1952), “Beneath the 12 Mile Reef” (1953), and “Track of the Cat” (1954). He penned the screenplay for the 1962 espionage thriller “The Angry Hills,” which was set in Nazi-occupied Greece during World War II and based on a novel by Leon Uris. In addition to his work in film, he was a prolific television writer during the 1950s and ’60s. He also played a part in creating the Western TV series “The Big Valley.”

Everything I do is me. I don’t like taking ideas from people unless they’re the G.O.A.T.

A Boogie wit da Hoodie

Furthermore, Bezzerides’ screenplay for “Kiss Me Deadly” in 1955 turned Mickey Spillane’s novel into a film noir with an apocalyptic, atomic-age twist. When asked about his script and why he made the mysterious object, “the great whatsit,” the central focus of the story, Bezzerides said, “People often ask me about the hidden meanings in the script, like the A-bomb or McCarthyism, or the significance of the poetry. To be honest, I didn’t think about all that when I wrote it. I was just having fun with it. My goal was to make every scene and character engaging.”

For instance, when a girl approaches Ralph Meeker’s character, I made her a bit of a seductress. She grabs him and kisses him as soon as she meets him, saying, “You don’t taste like anybody I know.” Being a car enthusiast, I added all those car-related elements and the mechanic. I was an engineer myself, so I gave the detective the first phone answering machine in that film. It was all about having a good time with the storytelling.”

A. I. Bezzerides made significant contributions to the world of film and literature, and some of his best-known works include:

1. “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955): Bezzerides’ screenplay adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s novel is often regarded as one of his most iconic works. It transformed the source material into a classic film noir with a distinctive, apocalyptic twist.
2. “Thieves’ Highway” (1949): Bezzerides wrote the screenplay for this film, which is another notable entry in the film noir genre. It tells the story of a war veteran who becomes entangled in the world of trucking and organized crime.
3. “On Dangerous Ground” (1952): Bezzerides’ screenplay for this film explores themes of redemption and moral transformation within a crime drama context.
4. “The Angry Hills” (1962): He wrote the screenplay for this espionage thriller set in Nazi-occupied Greece during World War II, based on a novel by Leon Uris.
5. “The Big Valley” (TV series, 1965-1969): Bezzerides co-created this popular Western television series, which starred Barbara Stanwyck. It was a significant contribution to the world of television.

These works showcase Bezzerides’ talent for storytelling, particularly in the film noir and crime genres. His ability to craft engaging narratives and develop complex characters is evident in these pieces.