Wells Root; Screenwriter for ‘Prisoner of Zenda,’ ‘Maverick’

Wells Root, 92, screen and television writer whose credits included work on the adaptation of the classic 1937 film “Prisoner of Zenda” and the small screen’s innovative anti-Western series “Maverick.” A native of Buffalo, N.Y., and a graduate of Yale, Root began his career as a film and drama critic for the New York Globe. His film scripts included “I Cover the Waterfront,” “Magnificent Obsession” and “Texas Across the River.” He contributed regularly to such television series as “Ford Theater,” “Four Star Theater” and “GE Theater.” Root taught for many years at UCLA Extension and wrote a critically acclaimed writers’ handbook titled “Writing the Script” in 1980. On March 8 in Woodland Hills.