Warren Adler (December 16, 1927 – April 15, 2019) was an American author, playwright and poet. His novel The War of the Roses was turned into a dark comedy starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Adler was an essayist, short-story writer, poet and playwright, whose works have been translated into 25 languages. Education and early career Adler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Fritzie and Sol Adler. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. He graduated from P.S. 91, Brooklyn Technical High School, New York University, and attended the New School. Among his classmates were Mario Puzo and William Styron. In 2009, Adler was the recipient of the "Alumni of the Year" honor at NYU's College of Arts and Science and was also the founder of the Jackson Hole Writer's Conference, WY. During his residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Adler was Chairman of the Library Board. After graduating from NYU with a degree in English literature, Adler worked for the New York Daily News before becoming editor of the Queens Post weekly. During the Korean War, he served in the US Army in the Pentagon as the Washington Correspondent for Armed Forces Press Service. Before his success as a novelist, Adler had a career as an entrepreneur. He owned four radio stations and a TV station, and founded and ran his own advertising and public relations agency in Washington, D.C.; his firm Warren Adler Ltd. was responsible for advertising and PR campaigns for political candidates, businesses and communities. Among his clients was the Watergate complex, which Adler named. He closed his agency in 1974 after the publication of his first novel, Undertow, and devoted himself to a writing career. He sponsored the Warren Adler Short Story contest on the Web. Writing career Adler wrote The War of the Roses and Random Hearts. The War of the Roses was adapted into a feature film starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito in 1989. Random Hearts was adapted into a film starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas in 1999. There was a bidding war in a Hollywood commission for his unpublished book Private Lies. Newsweek reported, "TriStar Pictures outbid Warner Bros and Columbia, and purchased the film rights to Private Lies for $1.2 million. …the highest sums yet paid in Hollywood for an unpublished manuscript." Adler also wrote The Sunset Gang, produced by Linda Lavin for