William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, screenwriter and playwright who wrote 16 novels and numerous screenplays in a career spanning seven decades. He received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Screenplay from the BAFTAs and Golden Globes for his first original screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976). Both of these films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, along with The Princess Bride (1987) which he adapted from his 1973 novel, and all three were included on the 2006 list by the Writers Guild of America of the 101 Greatest Screenplays. He grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and was raised Jewish. Goldman's father was a successful businessman, working in Chicago and in a partnership, but he suffered from alcoholism, which cost him his business. He "came home to live and he was in his pajamas for the last five years of his life," according to Goldman. His father died by suicide while Goldman was still in high school. It was a 15-year-old Goldman who discovered the body. His mother was deaf, which created additional stress in the home.

Education and military service

Goldman attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, and he began to write when he took a creative-writing course there, according to his memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983). His grades in the class were "horrible". He was assigned as a clerk in the Pentagon Defense headquarters because he knew how to type, and he was discharged with the rank of corporal in September 1954.

He returned to graduate studies under the G.I. Bill, earning a Master of Arts degree at Columbia University and graduating in 1956. Throughout this period, he was writing short stories in the evenings, but he struggled to have them published.

Career

Novelist

Goldman did not originally plan to become a screenwriter. His main interests were poetry, short stories, and novels. In 1956, he completed a master's thesis at Columbia University on the comedy of manners in America.

His older brother James Goldman was a playwright and screenwriter. They shared an apartment in New York with their friend John Kander, also an alumnus of Oberlin. Kander was working on his Ph.D. in music, and the Goldman brothers wrote the libretto for his dissertation. Kander was the composer of more than a dozen musicals, including Cabaret and Chicago, and all three of them eventually won Academy Awards. His writer's block continued, but he had an idea for the novel No Way to Treat a Lady (1964) based on the Boston Strangler. He wrote it in two weeks, and it was published under the pseudonym Harry Longbaugh—a variant spelling of the Sundance Kid's real name, which Goldman had been researching since the late 1950s. He then finished Boys and Girls Together, which became a best seller.

Screenwriter

Cliff Robertson read an early draft of No Way to Treat a Lady and hired Goldman to adapt the short story Flowers for Algernon for the movies. Before he had even finished the script, Robertson recommended him to do some rewriting on the spy spoof Masquerade (1965), in which Robertson was starring. Goldman did that, then finished the Algernon script. Robertson disliked it, though, and hired Stirling Silliphant, instead, to work on what became Charly (1968).

Producer Elliot Kastner had optioned the film rights to Boys and Girls Together. Goldman suggested that Kastner make a film of the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonald and offered to do an adaptation. Kastner agreed, and Goldman chose The Moving Target. The result was Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman, which was a big hit.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Goldman returned to novels, writing The Thing of It Is... (1967). He taught at Princeton and wished to write something, but he could not come up with an idea for a novel. Instead, he wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, his first original screenplay, which he had been researching for eight years. He sold it for $400,000, the highest price ever paid for an original screenplay at that time. The movie was released in 1969, a critical and commercial success that earned Goldman an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The money enabled Goldman to take some time off and research the nonfiction book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway (1969).

Goldman adapted Steven Linakis's novel In the Spring the War Ended into a screenplay, but it was not filmed. Neither were scripts of The Thing of It Is, which came close to being made several times in the early '70s, and Papillon, on which he worked for six months and three drafts; the book was filmed, but little of Goldman's work was used. He returned to novels with Father's Day (1971), a sequel to The Thing of It Is…. He also wrote the screenplay for The Hot Rock (1972).

The Princess Bride

Goldman's next novel was The Princess Bride (1973); he also wrote a screenplay, but it was more than a decade before the film was made. That same year, he contracted a rare strain of pneumonia, which resulted in his being hospitalized and affected his health for months. This inspired him into a burst of creativity, including several novels and screenplays.

Goldman's novel writing moved in a more commercial direction following the death of his editor Hiram Haydn in late 1973. This started with the children's book Wigger (1974), followed by the thriller Marathon Man (1974), which he sold to Delacorte as part of a three-book deal worth $2 million. He sold movie rights to Marathon Man for $450,000.

His second book for Delacorte was the thriller Magic (1976), which he sold to Joe Levine for $1 million. He did the screenplays for the film versions of Marathon Man (1976) and Magic (1978). He also wrote the screenplay for The Stepford Wives (1975), which he says was an unpleasant experience because director Bryan Forbes rewrote most of it; Goldman tried to take his name off it, but they would not let him. He was reunited with director George Roy Hill and star Robert Redford on The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), which Goldman wrote from an idea of Hill.

All the President's Men

Redford hired Goldman to write the screenplay for All the President's Men (1976). Goldman wrote the famous line "Follow the money"; while the line is often attributed to Deep Throat, it is not found in Bob Woodward's notes nor in Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book or articles. The book does have the far less quotable line from Woodward to Senator Sam Ervin, who was about to begin his own investigation: "The key was the secret campaign cash, and it should all be traced..."

Goldman was unhappy with the film. The Guardian says that he changes the subject when asked about the film, but suggests that his displeasure may be because he was pressured to add a romantic interest to the film. a story that was excerpted in Vanity Fair. Written By magazine conducted a thorough investigation of the screenplay's many drafts and concluded, "Goldman was the sole author of All The President's Men. Period."

Joseph E. Levine

thumb|Goldman (left) and [[James Caan while shooting A Bridge Too Far in 1976]]

Goldman had a happier experience when hired by Joseph E. Levine to write A Bridge Too Far (1977) based on the book by Cornelius Ryan. Goldman later wrote a promotional book, Story of A Bridge Too Far (1977), as a favor to Levine, and signed a three-film contract with the producer worth $1.5 million.

Goldman was the original screenwriter for the film version of Tom Wolfe's novel The Right Stuff; director Philip Kaufman wrote his own screenplay without using Goldman's material, because Kaufman wanted to include Chuck Yeager as a character; Goldman did not.

He focused on novels: Control (1982), The Silent Gondoliers (1983), The Color of Light (1984), Heat (1985), and Brothers (1986). The last, a sequel to Marathon Man, was Goldman's last published novel.

Return to Hollywood

Goldman attributed his return to Hollywood to signing with talent agent Michael Ovitz at Creative Artists Agency. He went to work on Memoirs of an Invisible Man, although he left the project relatively early.

Hollywood's interest in Goldman was reawakened; he wrote the scripts for film adaptations of Heat (1986) and The Princess Bride (1987). The latter was directed by Rob Reiner for Castle Rock, which hired Goldman to write the screenplay for Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novel Misery, considered "one of [King's] least adaptable novels".

His script for Heat was filmed again as Wild Card (2015), starring Jason Statham.

After his death, screenwriter Peter Morgan wrote that Goldman had completed a final book on Hollywood, comparing the production of three different films, including Morgan's Frost/Nixon, but that the book had run into legal problems and was never published. Writers Tony Gilroy and Scott Frank said Goldman spent considerable time mentoring and advising other writers.

Critical reception

In their feature on Goldman, IGN said, "It's a testament to just how truly great William Goldman is at his best that I actually had to think hard about what to select as his 'Must-See' cinematic work".

Three of Goldman's scripts have been voted into the Writers Guild of America hall-of-fame's 101 Greatest Screenplays list. Ilene, a native of Texas, modeled for Neiman Marcus; Ilene's brother was actor Allen Case.

Goldman was survived by his partner of nineteen years, Susan Burden, his daughter Jenny, and a grandson. His daughter Susanna died on 15 January 2015.

Goldman said that his favorite writers were Miguel de Cervantes, Anton Chekhov, W. Somerset Maugham, Irwin Shaw, and Leo Tolstoy.

He was a die-hard fan of the New York Knicks, having held season tickets at Madison Square Garden for over 40 years. He contributed a writing section to Bill Simmons's bestselling book about the history of the NBA, in which he discussed the career of Dave DeBusschere.

Since his death his collection of personal books is managed by INKQ Rare Books in Addison, Texas.

Death

Goldman died at his Manhattan apartment on November 16, 2018, due to colon cancer complicated by pneumonia. He was 87.

Works

Theatre

Produced

  • Tenderloin (1960), uncredited doctoring work
  • Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961), with James Goldman
  • A Family Affair (1962), lyrics; book was by James Goldman, music by John Kander
  • Misery (2012), adapted from the novel Misery

Unproduced

  • Madonna and Child – with James Goldman
  • Now I Am Six
  • Something Blue – musical
  • musical of Boys and Girls Together (aka Magic Town)
  • Nagurski – musical
  • The Man Who Owned Chicago – musical with James Goldman and John Kander
  • musical of The Princess Bride – with Adam Guettel (abandoned after royalty disputes)

Screenplays

Produced

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Director

! Notes

|-

| 1965

| Masquerade

| Basil Dearden

|

|-

| 1966

| Harper

| Jack Smight

|

|-

| 1969

| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

| George Roy Hill

| Also producer (Uncredited);<br>Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay<br>BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay<br>Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay

|-

| 1972

| The Hot Rock

| Peter Yates

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1975

| The Stepford Wives

| Bryan Forbes

|

|-

| The Great Waldo Pepper

| George Roy Hill

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1976

| Marathon Man

| John Schlesinger

| Based on his novel;<br>Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay

|-

| All the President's Men

| Alan J. Pakula

| Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay<br>Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay<br>Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay

|-

| 1977

| A Bridge Too Far

|rowspan=2| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| 1978

| Magic

|rowspan=3| Based on his novel

|-

| 1986

| Heat

| Dick Richards<br>Jerry Jameson

|-

| 1987

| The Princess Bride

|rowspan=2|Rob Reiner

|-

| 1990

| Misery

|

|-

|rowspan=3| 1992

| Memoirs of an Invisible Man

| John Carpenter

|

|-

| Year of the Comet

| Peter Yates

|

|-

| Chaplin

| Richard Attenborough

|

|-

| 1994

| Maverick

| Richard Donner

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1996

| The Chamber

| James Foley

|

|-

| The Ghost and the Darkness

| Stephen Hopkins

|

|-

| 1997

| Absolute Power

| Clint Eastwood

|

|-

| 1999

| The General's Daughter

| Simon West

|

|-

| 2001

| Hearts in Atlantis

| Scott Hicks

|

|-

| 2003

| Dreamcatcher

| Lawrence Kasdan

|

|-

| 2015

| Wild Card

| Simon West

| Based on his novel

|}

Consultant

  • A Few Good Men (1992)
  • Malice (1993)
  • Dolores Claiborne (1995)
  • Extreme Measures (1996)
  • Good Will Hunting (1997)

Uncredited

  • Twins (1988)
  • Indecent Proposal (1993)
  • Last Action Hero (1993)
  • Fierce Creatures (1997)

Unproduced

Source:

  • Flowers for Algernon: Good Old Charley Gordon (1964) – an adaptation of the story Flowers for Algernon done for actor Cliff Robertson – Robertson was unhappy with the version and hired Stirling Silliphant to write what became Charly (1968)
  • The Chill (1967) – adaptation of the 1964 Lew Archer novel by Ross Macdonald
  • In the Spring the War Ended (1968) – from the novel by Steven Linakis about American deserters in Europe at the end of World War Two. Lawrence Turman was producer and Martin Ritt attached as director but the studio, 20th Century Fox, decided not to make it because they wanted Pentagon co-operation for Patton (1970).
  • The Thing of It Is... aka That's Life (1968) – adapted from his novel
  • Piano Man – adaptation of his novel Father's Day
  • Papillon – adaptation of the novel which was not used
  • Grand Hotel (late 1970s/early 1980s) – musical remake of the 1932 MGM film, with Norman Jewison to direct
  • The Sea Kings (late 1970s) – a pirate movie about the relationship between Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard, the first of a three-picture deal with Joseph E. Levine – Goldman says he wrote the part of Blackbeard for Sean Connery and at one stage Richard Lester was attached as director – Goldman says Connery and Roger Moore were considered stars, then later Roger and Dudley Moore – however the film was too expensive to make
  • The Ski Bum aka Hot Shot (1981) – based on the article "The Ski Bum as an Endangered Species" by Jean Vallely – Goldman says this was never made due to tension between the producer and the studio
  • The Right Stuff – adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book that was not used
  • Rescue! (1980–81) – story of the rescue of employees of Ross Perot by Arthur D. Simons during the Iranian revolution – Goldman says this foundered when Clint Eastwood, the only suitable star to play Bull Simons, elected to make Firefox
  • Flora Quick, Dead or Alive
  • The National Pastime
  • Singing Out Loud – unproduced musical worked on with Rob Reiner and Stephen Sondheim
  • Low Fives (1992) – comedy about an African who plays for a basketball team in a small college, commissioned by Danny DeVito and intended to star John Cleese and DeVito
  • Shazam! (c 2003) – adaptation of Captain Marvel comic book
  • The Shooter – an adaptation of the Steven Hunter novel Point of Impact that was to have been directed by Lee Tamahori
  • Mission: Impossible 2 – script that was not used

Television

  • Mr. Horn (1979)
  • City in Fear (1980) – contributed to idea

Novels

The Thing of It Is series:

  1. The Thing of It Is... (1967)
  2. Father's Day (1971)

Babe Levy series:

  1. Marathon Man (1974)
  2. Brothers (1986)

Stand-alones:

  • The Temple of Gold (1957)
  • Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow (1958)
  • Soldier in the Rain (1960)
  • Boys and Girls Together (1964)
  • No Way to Treat a Lady (1964)
  • The Princess Bride (1973)
  • Magic (1976)
  • Tinsel (1979)
  • Control (1982)
  • The Silent Gondoliers (1983)
  • The Color of Light (1984)
  • Heat, published in the United Kingdom as Edged Weapons (1985)

Children's books

  • Wigger (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974)
  • : An orphan separated from her blanket, Wigger, nearly dies of loneliness until an extraordinary wind from Zurich brings them together again.

Short stories

  • "The Ice Cream Eat", Transatlantic Review Winter 1959
  • "Da Vinci", New World Writing no. 17, 1960
  • "Till the Right Girls Come Along", Transatlantic Review, Winter 1961
  • "Something Blue", Rogue, April 1963, pp.&nbsp;13–83
  • "The Simple Pleasures of the Rich", Transatlantic Review Autumn-Winter 1974

Non-fiction

  • , article
  • The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway (1969), guide
  • The Story of 'A Bridge Too Far (1977), guide
  • Adventures in the Screen Trade series: (guides)
  • Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting (1983)
  • Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade (2000)
  • Wait Till Next Year (1988), with Mike Lupica, memoir
  • Hype and Glory (1990), memoir
  • Four Screenplays (1995), screenplays of Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, and Misery, with an essay on each
  • Five Screenplays (1997), screenplays of All the President's Men, Magic, Harper, Maverick, and The Great Waldo Pepper, with an essay on each
  • The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays (2001), essays

Adaptations

  • Soldier in the Rain (1963), film directed by Ralph Nelson, based on novel Soldier in the Rain
  • No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), film directed by Jack Smight, based on novel No Way to Treat a Lady
  • Marathon Man (1976), film directed by John Schlesinger, based on novel Marathon Man
  • Magic (1978), film directed by Richard Attenborough, based on novel Magic
  • Heat (1986), film directed by Dick Richards and Jerry Jameson, based on novel Heat
  • The Princess Bride (1987), film directed by Rob Reiner, based on novel The Princess Bride
  • The Princess Bride (2012), short film directed by Emma Bradfield and Tyler Harrah, based on novel The Princess Bride
  • Wild Card (2015), film directed by Simon West, based on novel Heat
  • 5 Minutes (2018), short film directed by Javan Garza, based on novel Magic
  • Home Movie: The Princess Bride (2020), miniseries directed by Jason Reitman, based on novel The Princess Bride

References

Books cited

  • Finding aid to William Goldman papers at Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library.