William Rose (August 31, 1918 – February 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter of British and Hollywood films.^[1]

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Born in Jefferson City, Missouri, Rose traveled to Canada after the 1939 outbreak of World War II and volunteered to fight with the Black Watch.^[2] After being stationed at bases in Scotland and Europe, he returned to live in Britain at war's end to work as a screenwriter, marrying an English woman, Tania Price, with whom he would later collaborate.^[3]

Blessed with the ability to adapt to two distinct cultures, William Rose wrote a number of successful British comedies including Genevieve (1953).^[3] He became a working associate of the American-born director Alexander Mackendrick notably for his collaboration on The Maggie (US:High and Dry, 1954) and The Ladykillers (1955).^[3] He also provided scripts for Hollywood studios, earning several Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting and winning the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).^[4] Rose also won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Comedy for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966).^[5]

In 1973, Rose's lifetime achievements were recognized by the Writers Guild of America with their Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.^[6] In the 1970s, he had a brief relationship with Katharine Hepburn.^[7]

Rose settled in Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1964.^[8] He died there in 1987.^[9] He is buried in the Churchyard at St. Clement Parish Church, Jersey. William and Tania divorced; she died in 2015 aged 95.^[10][11]