From aol news:
Budd Schulberg, who defined the Hollywood hustle with his novel 'What Makes Sammy Run?' and later proved himself a player with his screenplay for 'On the Waterfront,' died Wednesday at age 95. 'Waterfront,' directed by Elia Kazan and filmed in Hoboken, N.J., was released in 1954 to great acclaim and won eight Academy Awards. It included one of cinema's most famous lines, uttered by Marlon Brando as the failed boxer Terry Malloy: "I coulda been a contender."
My wife is a home health aide and coincidentally served as a caregiver during the last couple of weeks of Budd's life. The poor guy had a number of health issues and on top of that was undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer. He was working on his autobiography right up until his death. Just a few days ago he pushed himself to attend a live performance of On The Waterfront in NJ. My wife really thought it was too much for him to attempt, but he insisted. He pushed himself too hard at the event and didn't get back home to eastern LI until early the next morning. He never rebounded after that. Even with all the obvious discomfort he was experiencing, my wife said he was a pleasure to work for. She became very attached to him in a relatively short amount of time. His wife Betsy called her late last night and they talked and cried together on the phone for a good hour. What a wonderfully soft spoken , easy going, yet iconic individual. RIP Budd.
One of those individuals whose work would be considered "iconic", I think. I'm touched by your personal connection, your wife's work giving comfort to Budd during his last days, Gasport. We should mention, in passing, Schulberg's groundbreaking novel, WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN?, and his work on such films as the 1937 A STAR IS BORN. To make a genre connection: he appeared in the 2000 documentary LON CHANEY:A THOUSAND FACES. And just for the record, Budd was inducted into the Internat'l Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, at age 89!