Actress and screenwriter Leigh Chapman, born Rosa Lee Chapman on March 29, 1939, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, embarked on a remarkable career in the entertainment industry. After graduating from Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Chapman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where she initially worked as a secretary at the renowned William Morris Agency.
Before transitioning to a successful writing career, Chapman made a few appearances on television, including a recurring role as Napoleon Solo's secretary on several episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1964. She then went on to write numerous action-adventure scripts for both television series and motion pictures, earning a reputation for her tough-minded and gritty storytelling style.
Chapman is perhaps best known for penning the screenplay for the car chase cult classic, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, released in 1974. She also wrote scripts for other notable action films, such as Steel, The Octagon, and King of the Mountain, all of which were released in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Additionally, she contributed to the script of Robert Aldrich's final film,...All the Marbles, and worked on a script treatment for the blaxploitation film, Truck Turner.
Chapman's later years saw her pursue a new passion for underwater photography, with her work being featured in a 2011 exhibit at Calumet Photography in Hollywood, California. Sadly, Leigh Chapman passed away on November 4, 2014, at the age of 75, at her home in West Hollywood, California, due to cancer. She was survived by her siblings, two sisters and a brother.
