---
name: "Dean Riesner"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/dean-riesner"
fi1m_id: "dean-riesner"
imdb_id: "nm0718466"
tmdb_id: 14776
wikidata_id: "Q3020660"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "3 November 1918"
died: "18 August 2002"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-07T10:49:11.144958+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."
---

# Dean Riesner

## Identity

Dean Riesner

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/dean-riesner
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** dean-riesner
- **IMDb ID:** nm0718466
- **TMDB ID:** 14776
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3020660
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Riesner, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3020660, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14776

Writer. Born 3 November 1918 in New Rochelle, New York, USA. Died 18 August 2002.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 3 November 1918, New Rochelle, New York, USA
- **Died:** 18 August 2002
- **Active:** 1959–1985
- **Also known as:** Dinky Dean, Dink Dean, Dean Franklin, Charles Reisner Jr., Dean Reisner, Dinky Reisner, Dean E. Riesner
- **Frequently works with:** [Clint Eastwood](https://film.one/person/clint-eastwood.md), [Herbert Grönemeyer](https://film.one/person/herbert-gronemeyer.md), [Hubertus Bengsch](https://film.one/person/hubertus-bengsch.md), [Jürgen Prochnow](https://film.one/person/jurgen-prochnow.md), [Klaus Wennemann](https://film.one/person/klaus-wennemann.md), [Martin Semmelrogge](https://film.one/person/martin-semmelrogge.md), [Wolfgang Petersen](https://film.one/person/wolfgang-petersen.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 74 (1), 1980s 79 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 68 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 2, Crime 2, Thriller 2, History 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $271m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Riesner, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3020660, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14776

## Biography

Dean Riesner was an American screenwriter and television writer. Born on 3 November 1918 in New Rochelle, New York, he began his career as a child actor under the name Dinky Dean, appearing in films including Charlie Chaplin's *The Pilgrim* (1923). His father was silent film director Charles Reisner. As an adult he turned to writing, with an early credit on the 1939 film *Code of the Secret Service*.

Riesner wrote for television series including *Rawhide* and *The Outer Limits* in the 1950s and 1960s. He contributed screenplays to several Clint Eastwood films, including *Coogan's Bluff* (1968), *Play Misty for Me* (1971), *Dirty Harry* (1971), *Charley Varrick* (1973) and *The Enforcer* (1976). He also received a screenplay credit on the 1981 film *Das Boot* and wrote *Sudden Impact* (1983) and *Fatal Beauty* (1987). He directed the 1948 film *Bill and Coo*.

Riesner died on 18 August 2002 in Encino, California. He was married to actress Maila Nurmi in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

*Sources: latimes.com, en.wikipedia.org, sfgate.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Das Boot* (1985), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/tv/das-boot-1985.md)
- *Sudden Impact* (1983), Fi1m 65, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/sudden-impact.md)
- *Das Boot* (1981), Fi1m 89, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/das-boot.md)
- *Dirty Harry* (1971), Fi1m 74, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/dirty-harry.md)

## Complete filmography (63)

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

- *Fatal Beauty* (1987), Screenplay
- *Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow* (1987), series, Actor
- *Das Boot* (1985), series, Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/das-boot-1985.md)
- *Sudden Impact* (1983), Writer — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/sudden-impact.md)
- *The Sting II* (1983), Writer
- *Das Boot* (1981), Screenplay — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/das-boot.md)
- *The Enforcer* (1976), Screenplay
- *Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers* (1976), series, Teleplay, Writer
- *The Keegans* (1976), Writer
- *Rich Man, Poor Man* (1976), series, Writer, Teleplay
- *Charley Varrick* (1973), Screenplay
- *Dirty Harry* (1971), Screenplay — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/dirty-harry.md)
- *Play Misty for Me* (1971), Screenplay
- *Vanished* (1971), series, Teleplay, Creator
- *The Intruders* (1970), Teleplay
- *Lost Flight* (1970), Writer
- *Coogan's Bluff* (1968), Screenplay
- *Lancer* (1968), series, Teleplay, Creator
- *Stranger on the Run* (1967), Teleplay
- *Ironside* (1967), series, Story
- *The Long, Hot Summer* (1965), series, Writer, Creator
- *12 O'Clock High* (1964), series, Writer
- *The Man from Galveston* (1963), Writer
- *The Outer Limits* (1963), series, Writer
- *The Virginian* (1962), series, Writer
- *Ben Casey* (1961), series, Writer
- *The Case of the Dangerous Robin* (1960), series, Writer
- *Surfside 6* (1960), series, Writer
- *Bourbon Street Beat* (1959), series, Writer
- *The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis* (1959), series, Writer
- *The Chaplin Revue* (1959), as Various (archive footage)
- *Rawhide* (1959), series, Writer
- *77 Sunset Strip* (1958), series, Writer
- *Lawman* (1958), series, Writer
- *Bronco* (1958), series, Writer
- *Paris Holiday* (1958), Writer
- *The Helen Morgan Story* (1957), Writer
- *The Restless Gun* (1957), series, Writer
- *The Thin Man* (1957), series, Writer
- *Sugarfoot* (1957), series, Writer
- *The Big Slide* (1956), Writer
- *Conflict* (1956), series, Writer
- *Cheyenne* (1955), series, Writer
- *So You Want to Know Your Relatives* (1954), Story
- *Skipalong Rosenbloom* (1951), Screenplay
- *Gunfire* (1950), as Outlaw Mack
- *I Shot Billy the Kid* (1950), Dialogue Coach
- *Operation Haylift* (1950), Writer
- *The Traveling Saleswoman* (1950), as Tom
- *Assigned to Danger* (1948), as Dr. Michael Kelly (uncredited)
- *The Cobra Strikes* (1948), as Detective Brody
- *Bill and Coo* (1948), Screenplay, Director
- *Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die* (1942), Story
- *A Fugitive from Justice* (1940), as Additional Writing
- *The Fighting 69th* (1940), Screenplay
- *Everybody Dance* (1936), as Tommy Spurgeon
- *It's in the Air* (1935), as Brave (uncredited)
- *Square Shoulders* (1929), as Cadet (uncredited)
- *A Prince of a King* (1923), as Gigi, the Prince
- *Hollywood* (1923), as Dean Riesner
- *The Pilgrim* (1923), as Little Boy
- *Grief* (1921), Actor
- *Peck's Bad Boy* (1921), Actor

## Gallery

- ![Dean Riesner](https://film.one/media/person/103069/gallery-3ee0ef7393e7.jpg) Dean Riesner — Hartsook Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Silent_film_juvenile_Dinky_Dean_%28SAYRE_22186%29.jpg/1280px-Silent_film_juvenile_Dinky_Dean_%28SAYRE_22186%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Dean Riesner](https://film.one/media/person/103069/gallery-f50ab93efe62.jpg) Dean Riesner — Image via TMDB

---
© 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/dean-riesner