Herman Wouk, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of novels including “The Caine Mutiny” and “The Winds of War,” has died. He was 103.
According to the Associated Press, he was just 10 days away from his 104th birthday. His literary agent, Amy Rennert, has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment, but she told the AP that he died in his sleep in Palm Springs, California.
“The Caine Mutiny,” which was released in 1951 won Wouk the Pulitzer Prize and was then adapted into the 1954 film starring Humphrey Bogart. The film, directed by Edward Dmytryk, scored seven Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture. It was also adapted into a stage play which first played on Broadway in 1954.
His later novels include “The Winds of War” (1971) and “War and Remembrance” (1978), which were adapted into an ABC miniseries that Wouk penned himself and which won several Emmys — “War and Remembrance” won the Emmy for Best Miniseries. His 1955 novel, “Marjorie Morningstar,” was adapted into a movie in 1958 starring Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, and his 1961 novel, “Youngblood Hawke,” got made into a movie in 1964 starring James Franciscus.
Wouk also wrote the story for the films “Her First Romance” and “Confidentially Connie.” Other works include “The Hope,” “This Is My God” and “Don’t Stop the Carnival.”
Wouk was born in New York City in 1915 and majored in comparative literature and philosophy at Columbia University. After graduation, he moved to California, where he worked on Fred Allen’s radio show for five years. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he enlisted into the Navy and served as an officer in the Pacific, where he wrote his first published novel, “Aurora Dawn.” The novel was published in 1947.
In 1945, Wouk married Betty Sarah Brown and they had three sons. Their eldest son, Abraham, drowned in 1951. Brown died in 2011.