ALAN SHARP (Writer) had the opportunity to explore the story of one of his native Scotland's greatest heroes with the screenplay for ROB ROY.

Early in his career, he distinguished himself as a noted screenwriter of American Westerns, although most were written before he'd ever stepped foot in America. Among the Westerns he scripted are Robert Aldrich's "Ulzana's Raid", Peter Fonda's "The Hired Hand" and Ted Kotcheff's "Billy Two Hats".

He found equal success in other genres, writing the screenplays for Sam Peckinpah's final film "The Osterman Weekend", based on Robert Ludlum's bestseller, Arthur Penn's psychological thriller "Night Moves" and Richard Fleischer's "The Last Run". His additional credits include "Damnation Alley", "Cat Chaser" and the cable telefilms "Descending Angel" and "The Last Hit". Sharp also wrote and directed the film "Little Treasure".

Sharp was born in Alyth, Scotland and raised in the tough Scottish port town of Greenock. At the age of 14, he followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a shipyard worker. Four years later, he enlisted in the army.

After his discharge, he began his writing career as a novelist, although his first book was five years in the making. The time turned out to be well spent, as it resulted in the award-winning A Green Tree in Gedde, which established Sharp as a major literary newcomer. He confirmed the promise of that first book with his second tome, The Wind Shifts, before turning his attention to writing screenplays.