W. R. Burnett

Who was W. R. Burnett?

William Riley Burnett, often credited as W. R. Burnett, was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel Little Caesar, whose film adaptation is considered the first of the classic American gangster movies.

Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio, U.S. He left his civil service job there to move to Chicago when he was 28, by which time he had written over a hundred short stories and five novels, all unpublished.