James L. White, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJames L. White
American screenwriter
Date of Birth: 15-Nov-1947
Date of Death: 23-Jul-2015
Profession: screenwriter
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 
About James L. White
- James L.
- White (November 15, 1947 – July 23, 2015) was an American screenwriter best known for his original screenplay for the 2004 film, Ray, a biopic on Ray Charles.
- White received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for his work on Ray.White was born on November 15, 1947, in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.
- He was raised by his single mother in Mount Sterling, approximately 35 miles east of Lexington.
- A love of reading led White to pursue a career as a writer.
- He served in the U.S.
- Navy before enrolling at the University of Massachusetts.
- He left the university after a year and worked a series of jobs in the Boston area.
- He moved to Los Angeles during the 1970s to pursue screenwriting.White credited his friend, actor Sidney Poitier, with helping in get his first screenwriting job.
- Poitier hired White to 1992 to pen the screenplay for a thriller called "Red Money." The film was never made, but it marked White's breakthrough into screenwriting after decades of attempts.
- In a 2005 award acceptance speech before the Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees group, White publicly thanked Poitier, "I would like to publicly thank Mr.
- Poitier, who was the first person in Hollywood to take a chance on me as a screenwriter."White was working on two screenplays at the time of his death in 2015 - a biopic on Bessie Smith titled "Empress of the Blues" and second film focusing on Dinah Washington, which is in pre-production.James L.
- White died from complications of liver and pancreatic cancer at his home in Santa Monica, California, on July 23, 2015, at the age of 67.
- He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, two daughters and a son.
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