Twelve Angry Men

Reginald Rose was born in Manhattan, New York in 1920. He saw active service during the Second World War and began his writing career in 1950 with the play The Bus to Nowhere. The experience of serving on a jury in 1954 inspired Rose to write his most famous work, Twelve Angry Men. The play was first broadcast as a one-hour television drama that same year. In 1957, the play was adapted for film, starring Henry Fonda as the principled 8th Juror. The film earned several Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and remains a critically-acclaimed classic. Twelve Angry Men debuted as a stage drama in 1964, with Rose’s revised versions of the play later appearing in 1996 and 2004.

Rose continued to have a successful career writing for television and film throughout his life: His works include multiple TV plays, episodes for various TV series, and film screenplays. He won several Emmys for his television work and received other honors such as the Berlin Golden Bear in 1957 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Writers Guild of America. Rose died in 2002.

This study guide uses the Penguin Classics edition (2006), published by Penguin Random House.