He was the only child of Fred and Lilyan Radnitz who owned a laundry in Brooklyn, New York.
He graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1947 with a Bachelor's degree in English and Drama. He taught at the University for a year.
He was a devoted tennis player who often wore his tennis whites, even to business meetings.
He had an apprenticeship with theater director Harold Clurman, then went to Hollywood, where he was a script consultant at 20th Century Fox.
He studied English and drama at the University of Virginia, and taught English literature there.