Budd Schulberg, a son of Hollywood whose iconoclasm led to his being ostracized by the industry not once but twice, died Wednesday at 95.

Schulberg is best known for two works: the screenplay for "On the Waterfront," with its immortal line "I coulda been a contender," and the novel "What Makes Sammy Run?" in which he created an American archetype, Sammy Glick, the ruthlessly ambitious Hollywood producer.

Schulberg also collaborated with F. Scott Fitzgerald on a  disastrous screen project, turning the experience into his 1950 novel "The Disenchanted," about a young screenwriter who is assigned to keep a Fitzgerald-type character away from alcohol long enough to finish a screenplay.

The son of a successful Hollywood producer of the 1920s, Schulberg was blackballed in Hollywood once for "What Makes Sammy Run?" In the same vein as Nathaniel West's "The Day of the Locust," the novel  exposed the ruthlessly competitive, expedient side of the industry, making the author's name mud around the town for years. Be sure to read this 1998 LA Times article (just reprinted in the newspaper's L.A. history blog) on Samuel Goldwyn's reaction to "that horrible book."

Schulberg ruined his reputation once more in 1951 when he cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation of Communist influence in the industry. The screenplay for "On the Waterfront," with its justification of testifying against evil ("Testifying for what is right against what is wrong. What’s ratting to them is telling the truth for you," says Karl Malden's priest character, urging dock workers to expose corruption and mob influence on the wharves) was in large part a justification for his betrayal of co-workers. The film's director, Elia Kazan, had also cooperated with HUAAC.

Schulberg's best-known development project in later years was a planned collaboration with director Spike Lee on a film about boxer Joe Louis.