David Webb Peoples (born February 9, 1940) is an American screenwriter who co-wrote Blade Runner (1982), and later wrote Unforgiven (1992) and 12 Monkeys (1995). He has been nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards. Peoples won the best screenplay awards from the L.A. Film Critics (1991) and National Society of Film Critics (1992) for Unforgiven.

Early life

Peoples was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Ruth Clara (née Levinger) and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist. He studied English at the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

Peoples worked as a film editor in the 1970s while writing screenplays, but his writing career took off after being hired as co-writer on Blade Runner by director Ridley Scott to rework the script written by screenwriter and Blade Runner executive producer Hampton Fancher. Following the success of Blade Runner, Peoples worked on Ladyhawke (1985) and Leviathan (1989).

Other Peoples screenplays were purchased during the 1980s, many after studio development prior to production: Unforgiven, Soldier, and The Blood of Heroes. The Blood of Heroes was directed by Peoples, and starred Rutger Hauer.

Peoples received his greatest recognition for Unforgiven (1992). He had originally written the script in 1976, then entitled The William Munny Killings.

Personal life

Peoples and his wife, Janet, have two daughters.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Writer

! Editor

! Director

! Notes

!

|-

| 1969

| How We Stopped the War

|

|

| Himself

| rowspan="2" | Short films

| rowspan="18" |

|-

| 1971

| Tricia's Wedding

|

|

| Milton Miron

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1973

| Steel Arena

|

|

| Mark L. Lester

|

|-

| Bizarre Devices

|

|

| Paul Aratow and Barry J. Spinello

|

|-

| 1974

| Lucifer's Women

|

|

| Paul Aratow

|

|-

| 1976

| The Joy of Letting Go

|

|

| John Gregory

|

|-

| 1977

| Who Are the DeBolts?

|

|

| John Korty

| rowspan="2" | Documentary films

|-

| 1981

| The Day After Trinity

|

|

| Jon H. Else

|-

| 1982

| Blade Runner

|

|

| Ridley Scott

|

|-

| 1985

| Ladyhawke

|

|

| Richard Donner

| rowspan="2" | Script revisions

|-

| 1987

| Predator

|

|

| John McTiernan

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1989

| Leviathan

|

|

| George P. Cosmatos

|

|-

| The Blood of Heroes

|

|

| Himself

|

|-

| 1990

| Fatal Sky

|

|

| Frank Shields

| Credited as "Anthony Able"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1992

| Unforgiven

|

|

| Clint Eastwood

|

|-

| Hero

|

|

| Stephen Frears

|

|-

| 1995

| 12 Monkeys

|

|

| Terry Gilliam

|

|-

| 1998

| Soldier

|

|

| Paul W. S. Anderson

|

|}

Unproduced screenplays

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Title

! Director

! Description

!

|-

| My Dog's on Fire

| Tony Scott

| A comedy about a punk rock band

|

|-

| Sgt. Rock

| Various

| An adaptation of the DC Comics character

|

|-

| Vengeance

|

| An adaptation of the novel by George Jonas

|

|-

| The Grabbers

|

| A "new version" of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

|

|-

| Mandrake the Magician

| Etan Cohen

| An adaptation of the comic strip character

|

|-

| Lone Wolf and Cub

| Justin Lin

| An adaptation of the Japanese manga series

|

|}

Awards

Peoples' highest accolades are for Unforgiven. It received Oscar, Golden Globe and British Academy nominations, and won L.A. Film Critics (1991) and National Society of Film Critics (1992) awards for best screenplay. He was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2010 Austin Film Festival.

Notes

References

Sources

  • Cinequest Film Festival - Interview with Janet and David Webb Peoples