Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 - March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who also produced several films. He was also known as a highly regarded script doctor. Born to Polish immigrants, he earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois and a law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Some of his films include The Chase (1946), Whistle Stop (1946), House of Strangers (1949), Houdini (1953), Broken Lance (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Big Combo (1955), The Harder They Fall (1956), The Bravados (1958) and God's Little Acre (1958, official credit, but actually written by Ben Maddow). He worked several times in collaboration with independent producer Samuel Bronston and contributed to the screenplays of such films as King of Kings (1961), El Cid (1961), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and Circus World (1964).

Awards [link]

• Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay for Detective Story (1951), and for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Dillinger (1945).
• Won an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for Broken Lance (1954), which was actually a remake, reset in the West, of the earlier House of Strangers, also credited solely to Yordan although written in part by the film's director Joseph L. Mankiewicz who declined to share a co-writing credit.
• Won a 1952 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, for Detective Story (along with credited cowriter Robert Wyler, and Sidney Kingsley, the author of the original stage play).

External links [link]

• Philip Yordan at the Internet Movie Database