Bill Kerby, the screenwriter behind the first draft of the Bette Midler rock drama The Rose and contributions to films including The Last American Hero and Hooper, has died at the age of 88. He passed away on 13 August on Whidbey Island in Washington state, according to his longtime agent, producer John Ptak, who said Kerby had been in hospice care at home before suffering a fatal fall and fracture. Over a 30-year career in Hollywood, Kerby built a reputation as a colourful, independent-minded writer who worked on several notable films and television projects.

Kerby's screenplay for The Rose, originally titled The Pearl and loosely inspired by Janis Joplin, was later revised by Oscar-winner Bo Goldman, with the 1979 film earning four Academy Award nominations. He also rewrote scenes for The Last American Hero (1973) and worked on The Gravy Train and Hooper, while later in his career he received an Emmy nomination and a WGA award for the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton, which proved his final credit. Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1937, Kerby served in the US Marine Corps before studying at UCLA's film school, where classmates included John Ptak and Rob Reiner, and he began his career working for Roger Corman before joining a Warner Bros. writers' programme in 1969.