Budd Schulberg Dies At 95 in Hospital

Budd Schulberg, Oscar-winning screenwriter of "On the Waterfront", has died in New York State at the age of 95.

Photo: Budd Schulberg Dies At 95 in Hospital

According to his wife Betsy, Schulberg died on Wednesday after being rushed to hospital from his Long Island home, BBC News reports.

Schulberg suffered breathing problems Wednesday afternoon and was rushed from his Westhampton, L.I., home to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, a family spokesman said.

The legendary writer had been in good health, even attending a reading last week in Hoboken, N.J., of "On the Waterfront" put on by members of the cast of "The Sopranos."

"I thought they did an excellent job. I was very pleased with it," Schulberg told the Jersey Journal in what turned out to be his last interview, The New York Daily News reports.

Schulberg never again approached the success of "On the Waterfront," but he continued to write books, teleplays and screenplays — including the Kazan-directed "A Face in the Crowd" — and scores of articles. Spike Lee was an admirer, dedicating the entertainment satire "Bamboozled" to Schulberg and working with him on a film about boxer Joe Louis, The Associated Press reports.