William Goldman

Two-time Oscar-winner William Goldman is one of the finest storytellers ever to work in Hollywood. He tackled other mediums first, publishing a novel, "The Temple of Gold" (1957), which he followed with two more works of fiction before turning his attention to the theater. With his older brother James, Goldman wrote the 1961 play "Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole" and the pair later co-wrote the book for the ill-fated 1962 Broadway musical "A Family Affair" (with a score by John Kander and James Goldman). He received his initial film credit for "Soldier in the Rain" (1963), based on his 1960 novel of the same name, but his first crack at writing directly for the screen came when Cliff Robertson hired him to adapt Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" (eventually filmed as "Charly" in 1968), which existed in teleplay and short novel form. Although Goldman did not complete that project, he did receive his first screenwriting credit for "Americanizing" Michael Relph's "Masquerade" (1965) script when Robertson replaced Rex Harrison in the picture.

Goldman adapted Ross McDonald's "The Moving Target" for the successful "Harper" (1966), starring Paul Newman, but he really established his credentials with the Oscar-winning original screenplay for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), which teamed Newman and Robert Redford. Scripts for the Redford vehicles "The Hot Rock" (1972) and "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975), preceded the Oscar-winning adaptation of "All the President's Men" (1976), a marvel of clarity, considering the labyrinthine subject matter, the Watergate scandal. That same year, adapting his novel "Marathon Man" to the screen, Goldman gave audiences the marvelously evil Nazi dentist (Laurence Olivier) torturing Dustin Hoffman while asking, "Is it safe?" Although his only original screenplay since 1969 is "Year of the Comet" (1992), he has stayed busy adapting the work of writers like Cornelius Ryan ("A Bridge Too Far" 1977), Stephen King ("Misery" 1990; "Hearts In Atlantis" 2001; "Dreamcatcher" 2003), John Grisham ("The Chamber" 1996), Nelson Demille ("The General's Daughter" 1999 ) and David Baldacci ("Absolute Power" 1997), as well as his own popular novels ("Magic" 1978, "Heat" and "The Princess Bride", both 1987). In addition, he collaborated with William Boyd and Bryan Forbes on "Chaplin" (1992) and provided the script for "Maverick" (1994), based on the ABC-TV Western series of the 50s and 60s.

Goldman has also written widely acclaimed non-fiction works: "The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway" (1969), in which he uses the plays produced during the 1967-68 season as the basis for an analytical dissection of the Broadway theater; "Adventures in the Screen Trade" (1983), a light-hearted, insider's look at the film business; "Wait till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't & What Could've Gone Wrong Did" (1988), written with sportswriter Mike Lupica; and "Hype and Glory" (1990), his breezy first-hand account of judging both the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and the Miss American pageant within the space of one year. One of Hollywood's favorite script doctors, he has often done credited and uncredited revisions on ailing screenplays, such as the 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Last Action Hero" (a commercial failure despite Goldman's efforts) and "Jurassic Park III" (2001). .

Goldman's latest effort is adapting the adventures of the comic book superhero Captain Marvel to the big screen for "Shazam!"

• Also Credited As:
  Harry Longbaugh, S. Morgenstern
• Born:
  August 12, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois
• Job Titles:
  Author, Screenwriter

Family

• Brother: James Goldman. born on June 30, 1927; author of "The Lion in Winter" and the book for "Follies"; died on October 28, 1998 of a heart attack in NYC
• Daughter: Jenny Rebecca Goldman. born c. 1962
• Daughter: Susanna Goldman. born c. 1965
• Father: Maurice Clarence Goldman.
• Mother: Marion Goldman.

Education

• Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, BA, 1952
• Columbia University, New York, New York, MA, 1956

Milestones

• 1952 Served as a corporal in the US Army
• 1957 Wrote first novel, "The Temple of Gold"
• 1961 First play produced on Broadway, "Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole"; written with brother James
• 1962 With brother, co-wrote book for the ill-fated Broadway musical, "A Family Affair"; score by John Kander and James Goldman
• 1963 First novel to be turned into film, "Soldier in the Rain"
• 1965 First screenwriting credit: doctored script by "Americanizing" Michael Relph's screenplay for "Masquerade" when Cliff Robertson replaced Rex Harrison in the cast
• 1965 Hired to write first screenplay, a treatment of the teleplay and short novel "Flowers for Algernon" for Cliff Robertson; did not complete project (date approximate)
• 1966 Adapted the Ross MacDonald novel "The Moving Target" as "Harper", a vehicle for Paul Newman
• 1969 Established screenwriting credentials with an Academy Award-winning original script for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", directed by George Roy Hill and starring Newman and Robert Redford
• 1972 Scripted "The Hot Rock", adapted from Donald E Westlake's novel; film starred Redford
• 1975 Reteamed with director Hill and star Redford for the period comedy-drama "The Great Waldo Pepper"
• 1976 Won second Oscar for adaptation of "All the President's Men" for producer-star Redford
• 1976 Wrote film adaptation of own thriller "Marathon Man"
• 1977 First collaboration with Richard Attenborough, the WWII drama "A Bridge Too Far"
• 1978 Adapted his novel "Magic" for the screen; directed by Attenborough
• 1979 First work for TV, the CBS miniseries "Mr. Horn", starring David Carradine; originally written as a film vehicle for Redford and later Steve McQueen
• 1987 Adapted his novel, "The Princess Bride", to the screen; directed by Rob Reiner
• 1990 Wrote screenplay for "Misery", based on the Stephen King novel; film directed by Reiner and starred Kathy Bates in her Oscar-winning role
• 1992 Collaborated on screenplay for Attenborough's biopic "Chaplin"
• 1992 First original screenplay in over 20-years "Year of the Comet"
• 1994 Provided screenplay for Richard Donner's "Maverick"
• 1997 Wrote script for Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power", adapted from the novel by David Baldacci
• 1999 Contributed to the screenplay adaptation of Nelson DeMille's best-seller "The General's Daughter"
• 2001 Penned the script for "Hearts in Atlantis", adapted from a Stephen King book
• 2003 Adapted another Stephen King novel, "Dreamcatcher," for director Lawrence Kasdan
• Became regular contributor to NEW YORK magazine