William Douglas Lansford

William Douglas Lansford (July 13, 1922 in Los Angeles – May 22, 2013) was an author, screenwriter, and film producer.

Born to a Scots Irish and English father and a Mexican mother, Lansford was raised in a Mexican neighbourhood in East Los Angeles. He had virtually no contact with his father until he was 14. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1940 and served with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in Iceland, the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal, and Bougainville where he was promoted to sergeant and in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima

Following the war, Lansford attended college under the G.I. Bill and worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News.

In 1946, Lansford married actress Jean Brooks; the marriage lasted 10 years. They were divorced in 1956 and Lansford remarried to Ruth Ketcham of Long Island, New York.

During the Korean War he was commissioned as a U.S. Army officer where he became a captain whose duties included being a radio writer with the Armed Forces Radio Service, a Public Information Officer, and a company commander.

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