Biography for
John Ridley (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

John Ridley is the author of seven published novels, the most recent, What Fire Cannot Burn from Warner Books and The Drift from Knopf. His first novel, Stray Dogs, was made into the feature film U Turn (1997) directed by Oliver Stone and starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, and Nick Nolte. Additionally, Ridley wrote the screenplays for the films Undercover Brother (2002) and Cold Around the Heart (1997) and wrote the story for Three Kings (1999).

He is a playwright as well and in 2005 produced the world premiere of his first play, Ten Thousand Years. Ridley is also a commentator for National Public Radio and a regular contributor to "California Connected" (2002), an award-winning, news magazine which airs throughout California on 12 Public Television stations. He was the host of "Movie Club with John Ridley" (2004) on AMC, a unique movie review program with a panel of critics.

Ridley also wrote, directed, and produced the popular TV show, "Barbershop" (2005) formerly on Showtime.

Spouse

Trivia

Wrote a draft for the script of Beverly Hills Cop IV (2012) but the script was rejected.

Wrote the graphic novel, "The Authority: Human On The Inside."

Alumnus of Homestead High School in Mequon, Wisconsin, USA.

Studied East Asian languages and culture at New York University.

During the writers' strike of 2007-08, he chose financial core status with the Writers Guild of America and continued working. He was the only non-soap opera writer to do so.

Where Are They Now

(March 2008) A contributor to MSNBC on "Morning Joe" and other programs.

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