| Leon Marcus Uris was born August 3, 1924 in | | | | best seller. He also authored several screen plays |
| Baltimore Maryland. His parents were Wolf William | | | | during his career. |
| Uris, a Polish immigrant, a paper hanger and later | | | | Leon worked as a war correspondent in 1956, |
| became a shop owner, and Anna Uris, a first | | | | covering the Arab-Israeli conflict. The book Exodus, |
| generation American. | | | | published in 1958, came about from these events. |
| Leon did poorly in school and never graduated high | | | | The book was made into a movie and later a musical. |
| school. He joined the United States Marine Corp when | | | | Leon and Betty divorced in 1965. He was remarried in |
| he was only 17, serving from 1942 until 1945. He met | | | | 1968 to Margery Edwards, but she died a year later. |
| and married a Marine Sergeant, Betty Beck, in 1945. | | | | In 1970 Leon married photographer, Jill Peabody. |
| Leon Uris started writing stories as a child but | | | | They had two children, but divorced in 1989. |
| remained unpublished until 1950, when an article he | | | | Leon Uris became a prolific public speaker and in |
| wrote was bought by Esquire Magazine. That started | | | | 1959-1993 spoke mostly on Jewish causes. |
| him writing full time. His first novel was published in | | | | Leon died on June 21, 2003. |
| 1953 after being rejected nine times. It became a | | | | |