Peter Viertel

Peter Viertel (1920 to 2007) was an American author and screenwriter, born in Dresden, Germany, to the writer Berthold Viertel and the writer and actress Salka Viertel. His family moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1928, where he grew up identifying with Southern California youth culture. A Dartmouth College graduate who enlisted in the Marine Corps and was later accepted by the OSS, he published the novel The Canyon at nineteen and wrote screenplays including Saboteur. In surfing history he is recognised for introducing the sport to Europe: in 1956, while in Biarritz for the filming of The Sun Also Rises, he sent for his surfboard from California and soon afterwards started Europe's first surf club.