David Westheimer

David Westheimer (11 April 1917 — 8 November 2005), was an American novelist best known for writing the 1964 novel ''Von Ryan's Express'', which was adapted into a 1965 film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard.

Born in Houston, Texas in 1917, Westheimer, a Rice University graduate, worked as an assistant editor for the ''Houston Post'' from 1939 to 1946, excluding the time he spent in United States Army Air Forces during World War II. As a navigator in a B-24 he was shot down over Italy on December 11, 1942 and spent time as a prisoner of war until 1945.

His first novel, ''Summer on the Water'', was published in 1948. He later wrote the novelization of the film ''Days of Wine and Roses'', based on the screenplay by his friend J.P. Miller. Despite being one of his most popular novels, it was not credited to him for much of its shelf life. In its original printing, he was by-lined as the author, but its publisher Bantam Books subsequently removed Westheimer's name and moved it into the "literature" category and keep it in print (which they did, for decades). Subsequent printings were branded only ''J.P. Miller's Days of Wine and Roses''. In addition to ''Von Ryan's Express'', Westheimer wrote a television pilot set in an Italian prisoner of war camp called ''Campo 44''.

He died in Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on November 6, 2005 due to heart failure. Provided by Wikipedia