The word most often used about him was feisty. He guarded his scripts like atomic secrets and only showed his actors their own pages. He regarded neckties as abominations and felt only slightly less strongly about long sleeves and matching coats and trousers. To the end of his days his haircuts would have pleased a Marine drill sergeant. Richard Brooks was a man of action.

And here are 10 more things you just might not know about the man:

1. He landed his first full time job at the age of 20 as a sportwriter with the Phildelphia "Record."

2. He founded the theater company, "The Mill Pond Theatre" (with David Loew) in Roslyn, NY and made his directing debut when the two took turns directing the plays they produced there during summer of 1940.

3. He took a trip to California in October and got job as writer for local radio station; reading and writing stories every day at NBC. He had to write five a week for $25 a day. "I wrote like 250 stories in 11 months," he said. "I'm lucky I didn't get arrested for plagiarism.". He also wrote and directed the radio show "William Sands."

4. He made his feature film debut in 1942 as an additional dialogue writer for "Sin Town" and "Men of Texas."

5. One year later he wrote his first feature, "White Savage" and returned to radio which included writing parts for Orson Welles.

6. While he was still in the Marines he contributed to the scripts of Anthony Mann's "My Best Gal" (1944) and Robert Siodmak's "Cobra Woman" (1945).

7. Brooks' 36 films captured 11 Academy Award nominations, seven Writers Guild Award nominations and five Directors Guild nominations.

8. A string of box-office failures in the 1970's, notably "Dollars" (1971) and "Bite the Bullet" (1975), brought him to the edge of bankruptcy, but in 1977 he scored a commercial and critical success with "Waiting for Mr. Goodbar," starring Diane Keaton as a young woman who is killed by a stranger she meets in a singles bar.

9. He had to mortgaged his own home to make "Looking for Mr. Goodbar."

10. He wrote three novels, "The Brick Foxhole" (1945), "The Boiling Point" (1948) and "The Producer" (1951), an insider's look at Hollywood. "Hollywood Real to Reel" wants to know what you think about cinematography...

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