Rex Rienits (17 April 1909 – 1971) was an Australian writer of radio, films, plays and TV. He was a journalist before becoming one of the leading radio writers in Australia. He moved to England in 1949 and worked for a number of years there. He later returned to Australia and worked on early local TV drama.
Rienits worked as a journalist and boxing promoter in Wagga Wagga. He moved to Sydney where he continued to work as a journalist but also wrote for radio.
In 1939 he helped form the Playwright's Advisory Board. In the mid-1940s he was hired by Henry Watt of Ealing Studios to prepare a research document on the Eureka Rebellion which formed the basis of the 1948 film Eureka Stockade. He moved to England in 1949 and wrote scripts for radio, film and TV. His big breakthrough was a popular radio adaptation of Robbery Under Arms.
He later returned to London, where he died of a heart attack in 1971.
His first marriage ended in divorce in 1932. His second wife Josephine died in 1954.
Anti-Climax (1931) – a one-act play
For Auction (1931) – a one-act play
Art, for Art's Sake (1931) – a one-act play
Midnight Interlufe (1931) – a one-act play
Reunion (1938)
Margaret Catchpole (1945)
He Found What He Wanted (1947)
Stormy Petrel (1948) – serial – rebroadcast in 1953
Robbery Under Arms (1949) – BBC radio adaptation of novel
Fulfilment (1951)
Wide Boy (1952)
A Shilling for Candles (1953) adaptation of novel by Josephine Tey for BBC radio
The Woman on the Beach (1953)
Front Page Lead (1954)
The Journey of Simon McEever (1954)
Joseph Proctor's Money (1954) adapted from story by W. H. Lane Crawford
Bligh Has a Daughter (1954)
Close to the Roof (1960)
John Lancaster (1961)
Flying Doctor (1961) – serial
Holiday Task (1961)
Eureka Stockade (1949) – original research for screenplay
Assassin for Hire (1951) – screenplay, based on his 1950 TV play – also a novel
Wide Boy (1952)
Noose for a Lady (1953)
River Beat (1954)
Fabian of the Yard (1954)
No Smoking (1955)
Out of the Clouds (1955)
Cross Channel (1955)
Count of Twelve (1955)
Walk Into Paradise (1956)
Three in One (1957)
Smiley Gets a Gun (1958)
Assassin for Hire (September 1950) – aired on BBC
The Million Pound Note (1950) – based on the novel by Mark Twain
Joseph Proctor's Money (1951) – TV play
The Bodgie (1959) – TV movie
Close to the Roof (1960) – TV movie
Who Killed Kovali? (1960) – TV movie
The Passing Show (1951) (TV series) – writer of various episodes
BBC Sunday Night Theatre – episode "No Smoking!" (1952)
Patrol Car (1954) (TV series) – episode "Bombs in Piccadilly"
The Vise (1955) (TV series) – "Count of Twelve"
The Third Man (1959) – episode "Death in Small Installments"
Jazz Boat (1960) – screenplay (original story)
Jezebel (1963) – original story for episodes
Riptide (Australian TV series)Riptide (1969) – story for episode "One Way to Nowhere"
Stormy Petrel (1960) – TV series
The Outcasts (1961) – TV script
The Hungry Ones (1963) – TV script
Eureka Stockade (1949) – non fiction
Wide Boy (1952) – fiction
Assassin for Hire (1952) – fiction
The Voyages of James Cook (1969) – non fiction
Slaves to Tradition (1931)
Hide Out (1937) – co written with S Howard, produced at the Independent Theatre
Lightning Strikes Twice (1944)
(He also directed various plays including productions of Golden Boy)
