Rex McGee:
CLASS OF 1970
Burleson High SchoolClass of 1970
Burleson, TX
University of Southern California - Cinema/TVClass of 1975
Los angeles, CA
Bishop Elementary SchoolClass of 1961
Everman, TX
Rex's Story
Life
Sometimes a letter is more than just a letter. No one believes that more than Rex McGee, screenwriter, journalist, and creativity coach. While a film student at the University of Southern California, Rex wrote what could have been dismissed as an ordinary fan letter to his idol, six-time Oscar winner Billy Wilder, about the directorÂs newest film at the time, a romantic comedy called Avanti!
Wilder was impressed with the letter, and invited 21-year-old Rex to meet him at his office. That first introduction ultimately led to a 29-year friendship like no other, with Rex assisting Wilder, famous for the classics Some Like It Hot and Sunset Boulevard, with newer films: The Front Page, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and then Fedora with William Holden and Henry Fonda.
A native of North Texas, Rex was the son of a local movie projectionist who, ironically, hated movies. Prior to chasing his filmmaking dream at USC, he was raised in the Fort Worth area and graduated from Burleson High School (long before Kelly Clarkson). When he graduated with a bachelor of arts in Cinema, his skeptical father wondered whether he would ever get a Âreal job.
But that meeting with Wilder RexÂs junior year of college provided the inspiration and courage necessary to launch the Texas native on a career doing what he loved. Rex began writing movie scripts, while also working as a studio story analyst and writing for magazines such as Playboy and American Film. His screenplays were soon being optioned, but as is so often the case, they werenÂt getting produced.
Though succe...Expand for more
ssful in a city that eats many alive, Rex finally hit the proverbial Âcreative wall in L.A. He had outlived both of his parents and endured the end of a long-term relationship when he lost his dear Aunt Alice, who considered him like a son. She bequeathed to him her 100-year-old home in Cleburne, and Rex took that as a sign that it was time to revisit his roots. He packed up and moved back to Texas.
Shortly after returning home, Rex got a call from film producer Jerry Weintraub (protégé of Elvis PresleyÂs manager, Col. Tom Parker), who needed a movie script to showcase country music star George Strait. Rex wrote a story of a successful but unhappy singer who walks away from the limelight to return to his Texas roots, looking for a more genuine existence. The film, Pure Country, was really RexÂs own story in disguise, and it turned out to have universal appeal. The movie was a hit not only for Strait, but also for Rex.
Today, RexÂs story of homecoming is now being developed into a stage musical with director Peter Masterson (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Trip to Bountiful). In addition, his movie about the aunt who left Rex her house, A Family of Strangers, starring Marion Ross, Frank Whaley and Keith Carradine, is scheduled to air soon on the Hallmark Channel. Whether as a writer in L.A. or Cleburne, Texas, Rex still battles the blank page every day, currently working on diverse film projects about Cuba, cable TV news, and the Chicago Cubs. He is married to the former Sandra Knebel, an interior designer, with whom he has a four-year-old daughter, Annie.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos