Tangled up in Blue

Edward Bunker, a convicted criminal who became an acclaimed writer and so-so actor, has died at the age of 71. A young man with a genius IQ, Bunker was the Doogie Howser of crime, starting law breaking at the age of 3, and was the youngest person to take up residence at San Quentin prison, where he ended up after stabbing a guard at the L.A. County Jail. His numerous bank heists and drug arrests earned him a spot on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. In prison, he wrote his first novel, No Beast So Fierce, which became the basis for the 1978 movie Straight Time. He later wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated film Runaway Train. He served as a technical advisor on prison life in a number of films and played small roles in such films as Tango & Cash, but is best known for playing Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs, an experience he used as the title for his memoirs: Mr. Blue, Memoirs of a Renegade.