---
name: "Clifford Odets"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/clifford-odets"
fi1m_id: "clifford-odets"
imdb_id: "nm0644048"
tmdb_id: 14567
wikidata_id: "Q734944"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "18 July 1906"
died: "18 August 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 85
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T08:16:48.288968+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Clifford Odets

## Identity

Clifford Odets

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/clifford-odets
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** clifford-odets
- **IMDb ID:** nm0644048
- **TMDB ID:** 14567
- **Wikidata ID:** Q734944
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Odets, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q734944, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0644048/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14567

Writer. Born 18 July 1906 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 18 August 1963.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 18 July 1906, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 18 August 1963
- **Active:** 1946–1957
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 writing, 1 crew
- **Average Fi1m score:** 85, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 92 (1), 1950s 82 (3)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Crime 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $27m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Odets, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q734944, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0644048/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14567

## Coming up

- *National Theatre Live: Golden Boy* (2026-11-05), Writer

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Sweet Smell of Success*](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Clifford Odets was an American playwright and screenwriter. Born in Philadelphia, he began as an actor before joining the Group Theatre in 1931, where he wrote plays including *Waiting for Lefty* (1935) and *Awake and Sing!* (1935).

He moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s and wrote screenplays such as *None But the Lonely Heart* (1944), which he also directed, *Humoresque* (1947), and *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957). Several of his plays were adapted for film, including *Clash by Night* (1952), *The Country Girl* (1954), and *The Big Knife* (1955).

Odets died in 1963.

*Sources: britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, peoplepill.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), Fi1m 88, as Man Outside Theatre (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md)
- *The Country Girl* (1954), Fi1m 74, Theatre Play — [page](https://film.one/film/the-country-girl.md)
- *Notorious* (1946), Fi1m 92, Dialogue — [page](https://film.one/film/notorious.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Bigger Than Life* (1956), Fi1m 85, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/film/bigger-than-life.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *National Theatre Live: Golden Boy* (2026), Writer
- *Awake and Sing* (2003), Author
- *Rocket to the Moon* (1986), Writer
- *American Playhouse* (1982), series, Writer
- *The Country Girl* (1982), Writer
- *The Country Girl* (1974), Theatre Play
- *Awake and Sing!* (1972), Writer
- *Paradise Lost* (1971), Writer
- *Wild in the Country* (1961), Screenplay
- *The Story on Page One* (1959), Director, Writer
- *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), as Man Outside Theatre (uncredited) · Screenplay — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md)
- *Clash by Night* (1957), Theatre Play
- *Bigger Than Life* (1956), as Additional Writing — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/bigger-than-life.md)
- *The Big Knife* (1955), Theatre Play
- *The Country Girl* (1954), Theatre Play — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-country-girl.md)
- *Clash by Night* (1952), Theatre Play
- *Humoresque* (1947), Screenplay
- *Notorious* (1946), Dialogue — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/notorious.md)
- *Deadline at Dawn* (1946), Screenplay
- *From This Day Forward* (1946), as Additional Writing
- *Rhapsody in Blue* (1945), as Additional Writing
- *None But the Lonely Heart* (1944), Writer, Director
- *Golden Boy* (1939), Theatre Play
- *Blockade* (1938), Adaptation
- *The General Died at Dawn* (1936), as Cameo (uncredited) · Screenplay

## Gallery

- ![Bette Grayson in the CBS radio program A Friend In Deed (1940)](https://film.one/media/person/320868/gallery-fee4b7562171.jpg) Bette Grayson in the CBS radio program A Friend In Deed (1940) — CBS Radio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Bette_Grayson_1940.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Clifford Odets](https://film.one/media/person/320868/gallery-870a3faca05f.jpg) Clifford Odets — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Clifford_Odets-signed.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photograph of Luise Rainer and Clifford Odets Caption reads as follows: LOS ANGELES, JAN. 4. -- FILM ACTRESS TO WED SCREEN WRITER -- Luise Rainer, Viennese scre (1937)](https://film.one/media/person/320868/gallery-2e260484e1fd.jpg) Photograph of Luise Rainer and Clifford Odets Caption reads as follows: LOS ANGELES, JAN. 4. -- FILM ACTRESS TO WED SCREEN WRITER -- Luise Rainer, Viennese scre (1937) — Associated Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Rainer-Odets-1937-cropped.jpg/1280px-Rainer-Odets-1937-cropped.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/clifford-odets