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The movie Cockfighter was based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Miami-based writer Charles Willeford (pictured below). Not only did Willeford author the source novel, he wrote the screenplay as well. Additionally, he appeared onscreen in the film playing Ed Middleton, a fairly prominent supporting role. Willeford was a highly decorated WWII combat veteran who won a Silver Star for his participation in the Battle Of The Bulge. Only two other Willeford novels were turned into a films: one was Miami Blues, a 1984 novel that hit movie theatres in 1990 and the other was The Woman Chaser (1999). More insights into Willeford can be found in this short Austin Chronicle piece from 2000.
Willeford spent the years between 1967 and 1981 as an associate professor at Miami Dade Community College, where he taught English and Philosophy. His Wikipedia page says that he retired in 1985, but in his 1989 book Cockfighter Journal: The Story Of A Shooting he indicates that he retired in 1981, so that's the date I'm going with. Willeford reported in his memoir that Cockfighter was the only Roger Corman film that failed to turn a profit.