Born James Edmund Paterson in Scotland, educated at the University of Edinburgh. Paterson was a football (soccer) player and was club captain of Dundee United football club in the 1930's and 40's in Scotland. A winner of the Atlantic Award of Literature in 1946, a TV executive, and a former governor of the British Film Institute, he wrote a number of screenplays for British movies, receiving an Academy Award nomination for the script of ROOM AT THE TOP (1959). His novel Man on a Tightrope provided the basis for the 1953 film by that title. Other notable screenwriting credits include THE (LITTLE) KIDNAPPERS (1953), DEVIL ON HORSEBACK (1954), THE WOMAN FOR JOE (1955), HIGH TIDE AT NOON and THE SHIRALEE (both 1957), INNOCENT SINNERS (1958), and THE SPIRAL ROAD (1962).  Writing (Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) 1959: ROOM AT THE TOP 1 nomination, 1 Award