Elmore Leonard Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are "Get Shorty", "Out of Sight", "Swag", "Hombre", "Mr. Majestyk", and "Rum Punch" (adapted as the movie "Jackie Brown"). Leonard's writings include short stories that became the films "3:10 to Yuma" and "The Tall T", as well as the FX television series "Justified". Leonard was born
Quentin Tarantino that he would try to get people to watch really cool movies." After Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party, Bender encouraged him to write a screenplay. His first attempted script, which he described as a "straight 70s exploitation action movie" was never published and was abandoned soon after. Tarantino co-wrote and directed his first movie, "My Best Friend's Birthday", in 1987. The final reel of the film was almost completely destroyed in a lab fire that occurred during editing, but its screenplay later formed the basis for "True Romance". In 1986, Tarantino got his first Hollywood job, working