Donn Pearce Net Worth

Donn Pearce Net Worth is
$500,000

Donn Pearce Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018

Donn Pearce (born 1928) is an American author best known for the novel and screen play Cool Hand Luke.Born Donald Mills Pearce in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pearce left home at 15. He attempted to join the United States Merchant Marine at 16, but was turned away due to his age. He lied about his age, registered for the draft, and was inducted into the United States Army in 1944. Frustrated by rules he considered unnecessary, he went AWOL, then three days later thought better of it and turned himself in to a Navy MP. His sentence was 30 days in the stockade. He served three days of his sentence, then was transferred to a combat infantry unit. Anticipating being sent to the front (this was during WWII), he wrote his mother a letter. She contacted the Army, informed them of his true age, and he was thrown out of the Army. By this time, he was old enough to join the Merchant Marine.The Merchant Marine took him to Venice when he was 18, to Spain, Denmark, France, Portugal and Bombay. Post-war Europe had a thriving black market, and Pearce became involved in counterfeiting American money. He attempted to pass some counterfeit bills to a police officer in Marseilles, and was arrested, tried, and sent to prison. Assigned to a work detail outside the prison grounds, Pearce escaped, making his way to the Italian border. The French officials had taken his seaman's papers, so he forged new ones and signed on a ship to Canada. He crossed from Canada into the United States, where he began a new career - burglary.He became a safecracker, and in 1949, at the age of twenty, he was arrested for burglary. He served two years in the Florida Department of Corrections chain gangs. In 1965 Scribners published his first novel, Cool Hand Luke, and he went on to write the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the 1967 film version. The film starred Paul Newman, and Pearce made a cameo appearance as a convict named Sailor. His other books included Pier Head Jump (1972) and Dying in the Sun (1974). During the seventies and early eighties he was a freelance journalist, often contributing to magazines such as Playboy and Esquire. In 2005 he published a fourth book, Nobody Comes Back, a novel about the Battle of the Bulge, which received an excellent review from Malcom Jones in the 21 February 2005 edition of Newsweek. In 2011 a dramatization of Cool Hand Luke played on London's West Side, and the novel was reissued in the UK.Pearce continues to live and write in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Date Of Birth1928-09-28
Place Of BirthCroydon, Pennsylvania, USA
ProfessionWriter, Actor
NationalityAmerican
#Fact
1Received $6,500 for "Cool Hand Luke" the book, $65,000 for the film rights, and $15,000 for the first draft of his Oscar-nominated film script. Paul Newman, who Pearce thinks was miscast as Luke, received over $750,000 for acting in the film.
2In 1966, the Associated Press quoted Pearce as saying, "There was a real Cool Hand Luke and I knew him. But there is also a lot of me in the character." But in 1983, the Associated Press stated: "Although Pearce never met the lead character, he said Luke 'was a legend among chain gangs and died in Raiford while I was there.'".
3Pearce's model for Cool Hand Luke is said to have been Donald Graham Garrison, a convicted safecracker credited with stealing between $4 and $5 million during his criminal career.
4Reportedly dislikes the famous line that Cool Hand Luke (1967) is best remembered for: "What we've got here is failure to communicate." It's a bit of business credited to him but it wasn't in the book. He's convinced it's not something that a "redneck" guard would ever say. Even Bartlett's Familiar Quotations got it wrong and credited the line to Pearce. But in its 16th Edition, Bartlett made a correction and attributed the line to fellow screenwriter Frank Pierson.
5Granted a pardon in 1970 by the Florida governor and cabinet.
6He spent two years on a chain gang; an experience which helped him write Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Writer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Love for Rent1979TV Movie story
Cool Hand Luke1967novel / screenplay

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Cool Hand Luke1967Sailor (uncredited)

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
A Natural Born World-Shaker: Making 'Cool Hand Luke'2008Video documentary shortHimself
The David Frost Show1972TV SeriesHimself
To Tell the Truth1966TV SeriesHimself

Nominated Awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovie
1968OscarAcademy Awards, USABest Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another MediumCool Hand Luke (1967)

Known for movies

Source
IMDB Wikipedia

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