As a  screenwriter, novelist,  producer, playwright and film director, who was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for for  Truman Capote's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961), George Axelrod is considered to be one of the best writers of his generation. Born in New York City, New York, he was the son of Beatrice Carpenter, a silent film actress, and Herman Axelrod.

He is probably best known for his play, The Seven Year Itch (1952), which was adapted into a movie of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe. Along with his Broadway success he was also an accomplished TV and film writer.  However, in Hollywood he was considered a top writer in the field of adaptation, especially after his work with Richard Condon's Cold War novel THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, John Frankenheimer's 1962 thriller.

He died peacefully in his sleep on June 21, 2003, at the age of 81.