William Dodson Broyles Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American journalist, screenwriter and former United States Marine Corps officer.

He created the television series China Beach (1988–91) and Six (2017–18), and wrote such films as Apollo 13 (1995), Cast Away (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), Unfaithful (2002), The Polar Express (2004), Jarhead (2005) and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). His work on Apollo 13 earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Broyles co-founded Texas Monthly magazine, and served as editor of Newsweek from 1982 to 1984.

Early life

Broyles was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Elizabeth (née Bills) and William Dodson Broyles.

In 1988, Broyles once again drew upon his memories in Vietnam when he co-created the award-winning television series, China Beach, a weekly drama for ABC about the doctors and nurses stationed at an American military base in Danang. Broyles also authored an article in Esquire "Why Men Love War".

Journalist

Upon returning from Vietnam in 1971, Broyles picked up his professional career. He taught Philosophy and Political Science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis before returning to Texas as Chief Public Relations Officer for the Houston Independent School District. After a brief period of time in public service in Houston, Broyles was provided the opportunity to pursue his other primary interest, journalism. He became the founding editor of Texas Monthly magazine in 1972.

Broyles's and Texas Monthly publisher Michael R. Levy's goal was to create a magazine of national quality in Texas. Within its first year, the publication won a National Magazine Award for excellence; and during Broyles's tenure it quickly gained recognition as a "writer's magazine", offering intelligent and entertaining articles on Texas life ranging from politics, culture, art, sports, the environment, social issues, and entertainment. The award-winning magazine continues today as an example of quality journalism with a regional focus and a national readership.

In 1980, Broyles and business partners, including Michael Levy, purchased New West magazine from Rupert Murdoch. Broyles served as editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1980 to 1982, and saw it through its redesign and renaming as California. By 1982, Broyles's impressive track record in the magazine publishing world had caught the attention of Katharine Graham who recruited him to serve as editor of Newsweek magazine, replacing Lester Bernstein. He held that position from 1982 to 1984, when he resigned to pursue other interests.

During the next few years, Broyles made one more foray into the magazine publishing world, serving as editor-in-chief of Cable Guide, but he focused primarily on developing his writing career. In addition to Brothers in Arms, he wrote a three-act play titled Boot, about three soldiers in a bunker in Vietnam joined by a new recruit that they nickname "Boot". The plot follows the four young men as they struggle to cope with the realities of war.

Screenwriter

In 1988, Broyles found critical success with the television series China Beach. In addition to co-creating the show with John Sacret Young, Broyles also wrote or co-wrote several of the early episodes, and remained producer and creative consultant throughout the run of the show. In 1991, the Golden Globe-winning China Beach went off the air, but Broyles was well into production on his second television project, Under Cover, a political espionage series following the adventures of husband-and-wife secret service agents, Dylan and Kate Del'Amico. The series was short-lived, and Broyles next adapted the Nigel Hamilton book, J.F.K.: Reckless Youth, for a 1993 television mini-series of the same name starring Patrick Dempsey as the young future president.

Also in 1993, Broyles turned his attention from television projects to writing feature films. He shares his first screenwriting credit with former Texas Monthly writer Al Reinert for Apollo 13. The film, based loosely on the book Lost Moon, co-authored by astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, was directed by Ron Howard. It was met with both critical and box office success, and Broyles and Reinert were nominated for the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

After Apollo 13, Broyles began work on Cast Away, an original screenplay about a FedEx engineer stranded on a deserted island. Released in 2000, the film was produced by Tom Hanks, directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Hanks as the resilient Chuck Noland. Apollo 13 and Cast Away secured Broyles's place as an A-list Hollywood screenwriter.

Other writing credits in motion pictures include Entrapment (1999), Planet of the Apes (2001), Unfaithful (2002), The Polar Express (2004), Jarhead (2005), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). He also assisted in the screenplay of Saving Private Ryan, though he was uncredited.

Personal life

On November 5, 1988, Broyles married actress Linda Purl. They later divorced. His second wife was Sybil Ann Newman (later Mrs. James Raney), with whom he had two children. He married, thirdly, to Andrea Bettina Berndt. They have two daughters.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year !! Film !! Credit !! Notes

|-

|rowspan="2"|1991

|Under Cover

|Written by, executive producer

|TV movie

|-

|Before the Storm

|Executive producer

|TV movie

|-

|1995

|Apollo 13

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote with Al Reinert

|-

|1999

|Entrapment

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote screenplay with Ron Bass, based on a story by Ron Bass and Michael Hertzberg; as William Broyles

|-

|2000

|Cast Away

|Written by

|-

|-

|2001

|Planet of the Apes

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote with Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal

|-

|2002

|Unfaithful

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote with Alvin Sargent

|-

|2004

|The Polar Express

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote with Robert Zemeckis

|-

|2005

|Jarhead

|Screenplay by

|As William D. Broyles Jr.

|-

|2006

|Flags of our Fathers

|Screenplay by

|Co-wrote with Paul Haggis

|-

|2015

|McFarland, USA

|Uncredited rewrite

|

|-

|}

See also

  • Wilson the Volleyball

References

Archival sources

  • The William Broyles Jr. Papers 1962–2002 (106 linear feet) are housed at the Wittliff Collections, Texas State University in San Marcos.
  • Allbusiness.com
  • Article by Broyles on his experiences in Vietnam