Writing

Donald E. Westlake

Born July 12, 1933 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Died December 31, 2008 · aged 75

Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer with more than one hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction and other genres. Westlake created two professional criminal characters who each starred in a long-running series: the relentless, hardboiled Pa…

Known For

Play Dirty

Play Dirty · 2025

MovieCrimeAction

Expert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.

No Other Choice

No Other Choice · 2025

No Other Choice

MovieComedyCrime

After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.

The Stepfather

The Stepfather · 2009

MovieHorrorThriller

Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?

Parker

MovieActionCrime

A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.

Payback

Payback · 1999

MovieActionDrama

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.

Point Blank

Point Blank · 1967

MovieCrimeThriller

After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.

Ripley Under Ground

Ripley Under Ground · 2007

Ripley Under Ground

MovieDramaThriller

Now living a quiet, luxurious life at his French estate—funded by past crimes and his marriage to an heiress—Tom Ripley finds that an art scam he supports—selling forged paintings by a supposedly living artist named Derwatt—beginning to collapse. An inquisitive American collector suspects his Derwatt painting is fake and demands answers. As the situation escalates, Ripley turns to murder and elaborate identity deception to protect his reputation.

The Outfit

The Outfit · 1973

MovieCrimeDrama

A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.

Filmography

Sort

Play Dirty

Play Dirty · 2025

MovieCrimeAction

Expert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.

Characters

No Other Choice

No Other Choice · 2025

No Other Choice

MovieComedyCrime

After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.

Novel

The Stepfather

The Stepfather · 2009

MovieHorrorThriller

Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?

Story

Parker

MovieActionCrime

A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.

Novel

Payback

Payback · 1999

MovieActionDrama

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.

Novel

Point Blank

Point Blank · 1967

MovieCrimeThriller

After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.

Novel

Ripley Under Ground

Ripley Under Ground · 2007

Ripley Under Ground

MovieDramaThriller

Now living a quiet, luxurious life at his French estate—funded by past crimes and his marriage to an heiress—Tom Ripley finds that an art scam he supports—selling forged paintings by a supposedly living artist named Derwatt—beginning to collapse. An inquisitive American collector suspects his Derwatt painting is fake and demands answers. As the situation escalates, Ripley turns to murder and elaborate identity deception to protect his reputation.

Screenplay

The Outfit

The Outfit · 1973

MovieCrimeDrama

A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.

Novel

The Hot Rock

The Hot Rock · 1972

MovieCrimeComedy

Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...

Novel

What's the Worst That Could Happen?

What's the Worst That Could Happen? · 2001

What's the Worst That Could Happen?

MovieActionComedy

Thief Kevin Caffery attempts to rob from the home of rich businessman Max Fairbanks. But Fairbanks catches him and steals his cherished ring that his girlfriend gave him. Caffery is then bent on revenge and getting his ring back with the help of his partners.

Novel

Stepfather 2

Stepfather 2 · 1989

MovieHorrorThriller

"Stepfather" Jerry Blake escapes an insane asylum and winds up in another town, this time impersonating a marriage counselor. With a future wife and new stepson who love him, Blake eliminates anyone who stands in his way to building the perfect family.

Characters

The Stepfather

The Stepfather · 1987

MovieHorrorThriller

Seemingly mild-mannered Henry Morrison has just murdered his entire family. After adopting a new identity and skipping town, he begins building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter. However, he soon begins struggling to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.

Story

The Ax

MovieComedyCrime

Bruno loved his job as a middle manager at a paper company, but optimistically views being laid off as an opportunity. After two years of searching for a comparable position, optimism turns to desperation. His wife works two jobs, and their marriage slowly deteriorates as their hold on the middle class slips away. Bruno concocts a grimly audacious plan to identify and kill his fellow job applicants so that he is the only qualified person left.

Novel

Stepfather 3

Stepfather 3 · 1992

MovieHorrorThriller

After escaping a Puget Sound institution, "Stepfather" Gene Clifford alters his appearance with plastic surgery and takes on another new identity: Keith Grant. Moving to Deer View, California, Keith falls for a divorced school principal, arousing the suspicions of her wheelchair-bound, computer-savvy son.

Characters

Why Me?

Why Me? · 1990

MovieComedyAction

A jewel thief steals a sacred ruby which sets off a chase by the police, the Turkish government, nutty American terrorists, and the CIA.

Novel

The Grifters

The Grifters · 1990

MovieCrimeDrama

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

Screenplay

The Actor

The Actor · 2025

MovieDramaMystery

Paul Cole finds himself stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got here. As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery, appearances can't be trusted, and it's unclear which of his identities is real.

Novel

Two Much

Two Much · 1995

MovieComedyRomance

A struggling Miami art gallerist incurs the wrath of a mobster when he becomes accidentally engaged to his flighty ex-wife, but he falls in love with the woman's sister, so he invents a twin brother and plays both parts to satisfy the women.

Novel

The Split

The Split · 1968

MovieActionCrime

A group of thieves attempt a daring robbery of a football stadium.

Novel

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff · 1979

When a police department's burglary task force is facing the possibility of being shut down because of their low conviction rate decides to try a new approach to apprehending their targets. They take over a pawn shop where thieves go to unload their merchandise. They record them as they bring stuff in and get them to tell them where they got it. Eventually they're threatened by the mob.

Writer

Slayground

Slayground · 1984

MovieActionCrime

After thieves botch an armored truck robbery that leads to the death of an innocent young girl, her father vows revenge by recruiting a sociopathic hitman to track them down and assassinate them.

Novel

The Bank Shot

The Bank Shot · 1974

MovieComedyCrime

A bank temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target to break into. On the other hand, why not steal the whole bank, and rob it in a safer location.

Novel

Made in U.S.A

Made in U.S.A · 1967

MovieCrimeMystery

Paula Nelson goes to Atlantic City to meet her lover, Richard Politzer, but finds him dead and decides to investigate his death. In her hotel room, she meets Typhus, whom she ends up knocking out. His corpse is later found in the apartment of David Goodis, a writer. Paula is arrested and interrogated. From then on, she encounters many gangsters.

Novel

A Slight Case of Murder

A Slight Case of Murder · 1999

A Slight Case of Murder

MovieMysteryComedy

In the midst of a spat, film critic Terry Thorpe accidentally kills his lover. Though Thorpe covers his tracks, he raises the suspicions of a private investigator, who then tries to blackmail him. Thorpe also falls under the watchful eye of Detective Fred Stapelli, a cop who is intent on becoming a screenwriter. Before long, Thorpe's girlfriend, Kit, and Stapelli's wife, Patricia, are roped into the case.

Novel

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels · 1993

SeriesCrimeDrama

A neo-noir anthology television series, set in somber Los Angeles right after World War II and before the election of American President John F. Kennedy. The episodes, although filmed in color, mimicked what had been done by Hollywood filmmakers during the film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s in terms of tone, look, and story content.

Teleplay

Supertrain

Supertrain · 1979

SeriesAction & AdventureComedy

In a similar vein to The Love Boat, a mix of adventure, comedy, and mystery with a new set of guest stars each week, onboard a futuristic, nuclear-powered luxury train traveling across America.

Writer