Joseph Wambaugh Dies: ‘The Onion Field’ Writer, ‘Police Story’ Creator Was 88
deadline.comJoseph Wambaugh, the writer who mined his years as a Los Angeles Police Department patrolman for a series of bestselling crime books including The Onion Field, The New Centurions, The Blue Knight and The Glitter Dome, and whose literary works were adapted for feature films and television series, died today of esophageal cancer at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.
He was 88. His death was reported to The New York Times by a Wambaugh family friend. In 1971, eleven years after joining the LAPD, Wambaugh saw his first novel, The New Centurions, published by Little, Brown and Co.
The story of rookie LAPD cops in the early 1960s became his first bestseller and, the following year, the first movie based on his work.
The film adaptation starred George C. Scott and Stacy Keach. The New Centurions novel was followed by a string of police novels, including 1972’s The Blue Knight (later adapted for both an NBC TV-movie starring William Holden and a CBS series with George Kennedy).
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