William Goldman
Encyclopedia
William Goldman is an America
n novelist, playwright
, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter
.
suburb of Highland Park, Illinois
, the son of Marion (née Weil) and Maurice Clarence Goldman, who worked in business. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Oberlin College
in 1952 and a Master of Arts
degree from Columbia University
in 1956. Goldman lives in a penthouse apartment in New York City
. His brother, James Goldman
, who died in 1998, was a playwright and screenwriter.
(1983), Goldman began writing when he took a creative-writing course in college. His grades in the class were "horrible". An editor of Oberlin's literary magazine, he would submit short stories to the magazine anonymously; he recalls that the other editors, upon reading his submissions, remarked "We can't possibly publish this shit." He did not originally intend to become a screenwriter. His main interests were poetry, short stories, and novels. In 1956 he completed an MA thesis at Columbia University
on the comedy of manners in American.
Goldman's first novel, Temple of Gold, was written in less than three weeks. Goldman published five novels, and had three plays produced on Broadway
, before he began to write screenplays. He wrote mostly serious literary works until the death of his first agent, when he started writing thrillers, the first of which was Marathon Man
.
Goldman began writing screenplays in his 30s. He researched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
for eight years, and used Harry Longbaugh
(a variant spelling of the Sundance Kid's real name) as his pseudonym for No Way to Treat a Lady
. After deciding he did not want to write a cowboy novel, he turned the story into his first original screenplay and sold it for a record $400,000 in the late 1960s. Goldman felt that the script's potential, and the eight years of research involved in writing it, justified the fee. He went on to use several of his novels as the foundation for his screenplays, such as The Princess Bride
. His book No Way to Treat a Lady was made into a film in 1968, but Goldman did not write the adaptation, which varied from the book.
Goldman wrote the famous line "Follow the money" for the screenplay of All the President's Men
; 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. However, 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 movie; The Guardian
says that he changes the subject when asked about the movie, but suggests that his displeasure may be because he was pressured to add a romantic interest to the film. In his memoir, Goldman says of the film that if he could live his life over, he would have written the same screenplays, "Only I wouldn't have come near All the President's Men." He said that he has never written as many versions of a screenplay as he did for that movie. Speaking of his choice to write the script, he said "Many movies that get made are not long on art and are long on commerce. This was a project that seemed it might be both. You don't get many and you can't turn them down."
The book Robert Redford: The Biography by Michael Feeny Callan quotes Redford as saying that Goldman didn't actually write the filming screenplay for the movie,
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."
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 wrote the screenplay for Rob Reiner
's 1990 adaptation
of Stephen King
's novel Misery, considered "one of [King's] least adaptable novels". The movie performed well with critics and at the box office, and earned Kathy Bates
an Academy Award.
Among the other scripts Goldman has written are The Stepford Wives
(1975), Marathon Man
(based on his novel) (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Chaplin (1992), Maverick
(1994) and Absolute Power
(1997).
One of Goldman's best-known unproduced scripts is a pirate adventure, The Sea Kings. It reportedly was to star Sean Connery
and Roger Moore
as pirates Blackbeard
and Bonnet
, but the budget was too high and the project was scrapped.
and a narrative device invented by Goldman to add another layer to his novel The Princess Bride. He presents his novel as being an abridged version of a work by the fictional Morgenstern, an author from the equally fictional country of Florin. The name may be a reference to Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern
who coined the term Bildungsroman
describing the genre of story.
The details of Goldman's life given in the introduction and commentary for The Princess Bride are also largely fictional. For instance, he claims his wife is a psychiatrist and that he was inspired to abridge Morgenstern's The Princess Bride for his only child, a son. (The Princess Bride actually originated as a bedtime story for Goldman's two daughters.) He not only treats Morgenstern and the countries of Florin and Guilder as real, but even claims that his own father was Florinese and had immigrated to America. At one point in The Princess Bride, Goldman's commentary indicates that he had wanted to add a passage elaborating a scene skipped over by Morgenstern. He explains that his editors would not allow him to take such liberties with the "original" text, and encourages readers to write to his publisher to request a copy of this scene. Both the original publisher and its successor have responded to such requests with letters describing their supposed legal problems with the Morgenstern estate.
In the 15th and 25th Anniversary Edition of The Princess Bride, Goldman claimed that he wanted to adapt the sequel written by Morgenstern, Buttercup's Baby, but he was unable to do so because Morgenstern's estate wanted Stephen King
to do the abridgment instead. He also continued the fictional details of his own life, claiming that his psychiatrist wife had divorced him, and his son had grown to have a son of his own.
Goldman also wrote The Silent Gondoliers
under the Morgenstern pseudonym
.
Three of Goldman's scripts have been voted into the Writer's Guild of America hall-of-fame's 101 Greatest Screenplays list.
: an Award for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
, and an Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
for All the President's Men
. He has also won two Edgar Award
s, from the Mystery Writers of America
, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: for Harper
in 1967, and for Magic (adapted from his 1976 novel) in 1979.
In an Internet chat hosted by CNN, Goldman said that his favorite writers are Miguel de Contreras, Anton Chekhov
, Somerset Maugham, Irwin Shaw
, and Leo Tolstoy
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n novelist, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Early life and education
Goldman grew up in a Jewish family in the ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
, the son of Marion (née Weil) and Maurice Clarence Goldman, who worked in business. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in 1952 and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1956. Goldman lives in a penthouse apartment in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His brother, James Goldman
James Goldman
James Goldman was an American screenwriter and playwright, and the brother of screenwriter and novelist William Goldman.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up primarily in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb...
, who died in 1998, was a playwright and screenwriter.
Novelist, playwright and screenwriter
According to his memoir, Adventures in the Screen TradeAdventures in the Screen Trade
Adventures in the Screen Trade is a book about Hollywood written in 1983 by American novelist and screenwriter William Goldman. The title is a parody of Dylan Thomas's Adventures in the Skin Trade.-Overview:The book is divided into three parts....
(1983), Goldman began writing when he took a creative-writing course in college. His grades in the class were "horrible". An editor of Oberlin's literary magazine, he would submit short stories to the magazine anonymously; he recalls that the other editors, upon reading his submissions, remarked "We can't possibly publish this shit." He did not originally intend to become a screenwriter. His main interests were poetry, short stories, and novels. In 1956 he completed an MA thesis at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
on the comedy of manners in American.
Goldman's first novel, Temple of Gold, was written in less than three weeks. Goldman published five novels, and had three plays produced on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, before he began to write screenplays. He wrote mostly serious literary works until the death of his first agent, when he started writing thrillers, the first of which was Marathon Man
Marathon Man
Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.-Plot synopsis:...
.
Goldman began writing screenplays in his 30s. He researched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
for eight years, and used Harry Longbaugh
Harry Longabaugh
Harry Alonzo Longabaugh , better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, in the American Old West. Longabaugh likely met Butch Cassidy after Parker was released from prison around 1896...
(a variant spelling of the Sundance Kid's real name) as his pseudonym for No Way to Treat a Lady
No Way to Treat a Lady
No Way to Treat a Lady is a darkly comic thriller directed by Jack Smight, with a screenplay by John Gay adapted from William Goldman's novel of the same name. The film starred Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal and Eileen Heckart...
. After deciding he did not want to write a cowboy novel, he turned the story into his first original screenplay and sold it for a record $400,000 in the late 1960s. Goldman felt that the script's potential, and the eight years of research involved in writing it, justified the fee. He went on to use several of his novels as the foundation for his screenplays, such as The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
. His book No Way to Treat a Lady was made into a film in 1968, but Goldman did not write the adaptation, which varied from the book.
Goldman wrote the famous line "Follow the money" for the screenplay of All the President's Men
All the President's Men (film)
All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
; while the line is often attributed to Deep Throat
Deep Throat
Deep Throat is the pseudonym given to the secret informant who provided information to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post in 1972 about the involvement of United States President Richard Nixon's administration in what came to be known as the Watergate scandal...
, it is not found in Bob Woodward
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
’s notes nor in Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
's book or articles. However, 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 movie; The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
says that he changes the subject when asked about the movie, but suggests that his displeasure may be because he was pressured to add a romantic interest to the film. In his memoir, Goldman says of the film that if he could live his life over, he would have written the same screenplays, "Only I wouldn't have come near All the President's Men." He said that he has never written as many versions of a screenplay as he did for that movie. Speaking of his choice to write the script, he said "Many movies that get made are not long on art and are long on commerce. This was a project that seemed it might be both. You don't get many and you can't turn them down."
The book Robert Redford: The Biography by Michael Feeny Callan quotes Redford as saying that Goldman didn't actually write the filming screenplay for the movie,
a story that was excerpted in Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
.
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."
Goldman was the original screenwriter for the film version of Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's novel The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff (book)
The Right Stuff is a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the pilots engaged in U.S. postwar experiments with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft as well as documenting the stories of the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the NASA space program...
; director Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
wrote his own screenplay without using Goldman's material, because Kaufman wanted to include Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
as a character; Goldman did not.
He wrote the screenplay for Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
's 1990 adaptation
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel Misery, considered "one of [King's] least adaptable novels". The movie performed well with critics and at the box office, and earned Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
an Academy Award.
Among the other scripts Goldman has written are The Stepford Wives
The Stepford Wives (1975 film)
The Stepford Wives is a 1975 science fiction–thriller film based on the 1972 Ira Levin novel of the same name. It was directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman, and stars Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman and Tina Louise...
(1975), Marathon Man
Marathon Man
Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.-Plot synopsis:...
(based on his novel) (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Chaplin (1992), Maverick
Maverick (film)
Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film based on the 1950s television series of the same name, created by Roy Huggins. The film was directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by William Goldman and features Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, as well as several cameo appearances...
(1994) and Absolute Power
Absolute Power (film)
Absolute Power is a 1997 American political thriller produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood as a thief who witnesses a murder. The screenplay by William Goldman is based on the 1996 novel of the same name written by David Baldacci...
(1997).
One of Goldman's best-known unproduced scripts is a pirate adventure, The Sea Kings. It reportedly was to star Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
as pirates Blackbeard
Blackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
and Bonnet
Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet was an early 18th-century Barbadian pirate, sometimes called "the gentleman pirate" because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his...
, but the budget was too high and the project was scrapped.
Memoirist
In the 1980s Goldman wrote a series of memoirs looking at his professional life on Broadway and in Hollywood. In the first of these, Adventures in the Screen Trade, he famously summed up the entertainment industry in the opening sentence of the book, "Nobody knows anything."Autobiographical fiction
Simon Morgenstern is both a pseudonymPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
and a narrative device invented by Goldman to add another layer to his novel The Princess Bride. He presents his novel as being an abridged version of a work by the fictional Morgenstern, an author from the equally fictional country of Florin. The name may be a reference to Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern
Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern
Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern was a Livonian philologist, the first director of the library of the Imperial University of Dorpat. He coined the term Bildungsroman.-Biography:Morgenstern was born in Magdeburg...
who coined the term Bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
describing the genre of story.
The details of Goldman's life given in the introduction and commentary for The Princess Bride are also largely fictional. For instance, he claims his wife is a psychiatrist and that he was inspired to abridge Morgenstern's The Princess Bride for his only child, a son. (The Princess Bride actually originated as a bedtime story for Goldman's two daughters.) He not only treats Morgenstern and the countries of Florin and Guilder as real, but even claims that his own father was Florinese and had immigrated to America. At one point in The Princess Bride, Goldman's commentary indicates that he had wanted to add a passage elaborating a scene skipped over by Morgenstern. He explains that his editors would not allow him to take such liberties with the "original" text, and encourages readers to write to his publisher to request a copy of this scene. Both the original publisher and its successor have responded to such requests with letters describing their supposed legal problems with the Morgenstern estate.
In the 15th and 25th Anniversary Edition of The Princess Bride, Goldman claimed that he wanted to adapt the sequel written by Morgenstern, Buttercup's Baby, but he was unable to do so because Morgenstern's estate wanted Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
to do the abridgment instead. He also continued the fictional details of his own life, claiming that his psychiatrist wife had divorced him, and his son had grown to have a son of his own.
Goldman also wrote The Silent Gondoliers
The Silent Gondoliers
The Silent Gondoliers is a 1983 novel written by William Goldman, under the pseudonym of "S. Morgenstern", about why the gondoliers of Venice no longer sing through the tale of the protagonist Luigi...
under the Morgenstern pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
.
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". The site described his script for All the President's Men as a "model of storytelling clarity ... and artful manipulation".Three of Goldman's scripts have been voted into the Writer's Guild of America hall-of-fame's 101 Greatest Screenplays list.
Awards
He has won two Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: an Award for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
, and an Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
for All the President's Men
All the President's Men (film)
All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
. He has also won two Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
s, from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: for Harper
Harper (film)
Harper is a 1966 film written by William Goldman from a novel by Ross Macdonald. The movie starred Paul Newman as the eponymous Lew Harper . The original music score was composed by Johnny Mandel. Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
in 1967, and for Magic (adapted from his 1976 novel) in 1979.
Personal life
He was married to Ilene Jones from 1961 until their divorce in 1991; the couple have two daughters.In an Internet chat hosted by CNN, Goldman said that his favorite writers are Miguel de Contreras, Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, Somerset Maugham, Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best-known for his novel, The Young Lions about the fate of three soldiers during World War II that was made into a film starring Marlon...
, and Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
.
Broadway
- Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole (with James GoldmanJames GoldmanJames Goldman was an American screenwriter and playwright, and the brother of screenwriter and novelist William Goldman.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up primarily in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb...
)
- A Family Affair (1962; lyrics; book was by James Goldman, music by John KanderJohn KanderJohn Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
)
Screenplays (produced)
- Masquerade (with Michael Relph) (1965)
- HarperHarper (film)Harper is a 1966 film written by William Goldman from a novel by Ross Macdonald. The movie starred Paul Newman as the eponymous Lew Harper . The original music score was composed by Johnny Mandel. Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
(1966; Edgar Award) - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
(1969; Academy Award) - The Hot RockThe Hot Rock (film)The Hot Rock is a 1972 comic caper film written by William Goldman and directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Redford, George Segal and Moses Gunn. The film was based upon Donald E...
(1972) - The Stepford WivesThe Stepford Wives (1975 film)The Stepford Wives is a 1975 science fiction–thriller film based on the 1972 Ira Levin novel of the same name. It was directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman, and stars Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman and Tina Louise...
(1975) - The Great Waldo PepperThe Great Waldo PepperThe Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. It stars Robert Redford as a discontented airplane pilot in the years 1926-1931....
(1975) - Marathon ManMarathon Man (film)Marathon Man is a 1976 thriller film based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. The film was directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Laurence Olivier. The original music score was composed by Michael Small....
(1976) - All the President's MenAll the President's Men (film)All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
(1976; Academy Award) - A Bridge Too Far (1977)
- Magic (1978; Edgar Award)
- HeatHeat (1986 film)Heat is a 1986 action-thriller film about an ex-mercenary working as a bodyguard in Las Vegas. The film was written by William Goldman, based on his novel. It was directed by Dick Richards and Jerry Jameson, and stars Burt Reynolds, Karen Young, and Peter MacNicol.-Plot summary:A woman in a Las...
(1987) - The Princess BrideThe Princess Bride (film)The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
(1987) - Twins (1988; uncredited)
- MiseryMisery (film)Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
(1990) - A Few Good MenA Few Good Men (film)A Few Good Men is a 1992 drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. It was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin from his play of the same name. A courtroom drama, the film revolves around the trial of two U.S...
(1992; consultant) - Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
- Year of the CometYear of the CometYear of the Comet is a 1992 romantic comedy adventure film about the pursuit of the most valuable bottle of wine in history. The title refers to the year it was bottled, 1811, which was known for the Great Comet of 1811, and also as one of the best years in history for European wine...
(1992) - Chaplin (1992)
- Indecent ProposalIndecent ProposalIndecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.-Plot:...
(1993; uncredited) - Last Action HeroLast Action HeroLast Action Hero is a 1993 American action-comedy-fantasy film directed and produced by John McTiernan. It is a satire of the action genre and its clichés, containing several parodies of action films in the form of films within the film....
(1993; uncredited) - MaliceMalice (film)Malice is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and Scott Frank is based on a story by Jonas McCord.-Plot:...
(1993; consultant) - MaverickMaverick (film)Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film based on the 1950s television series of the same name, created by Roy Huggins. The film was directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by William Goldman and features Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, as well as several cameo appearances...
(1994) - Dolores ClaiborneDolores Claiborne (film)Dolores Claiborne is a 1995 film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by Taylor Hackford.-Plot:...
(1995; consultant) - The ChamberThe Chamber (film)The Chamber is a 1996 drama/thriller film based on John Grisham's novel of the same name. The film was directed by James Foley and stars Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell.-Plot:...
(1996) - Extreme MeasuresExtreme MeasuresExtreme Measures is a 1996 thriller film based on Michael Palmer's 1991 novel of the same name, about the ethics of how far we are willing to go, and how much we are willing to sacrifice, in order to cure the world's ills.-Cast:...
(1996; consultant) - The Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 adventure film starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer set in Africa at the end of the 19th century.It was directed by Stephen Hopkins and the screenplay was written by William Goldman....
(1996) - Fierce CreaturesFierce CreaturesFierce Creatures is a 1997 comedy film. Although not a sequel, it was a follow-up to the wildly popular A Fish Called Wanda, starring the same four actors, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin...
(1997; uncredited) - Good Will HuntingGood Will HuntingGood Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
(1997; consultant) - Absolute PowerAbsolute Power (film)Absolute Power is a 1997 American political thriller produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood as a thief who witnesses a murder. The screenplay by William Goldman is based on the 1996 novel of the same name written by David Baldacci...
(1997) - The General's Daughter (1999)
- Hearts in AtlantisHearts in Atlantis (film)Hearts in Atlantis is a 2001 American/Australian drama thriller directed by Scott Hicks. It is loosely adapted from Stephen King's novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats", from his story collection Hearts in Atlantis.-Plot:...
(2001) - DreamcatcherDreamcatcher (film)Dreamcatcher is a 2003 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name. It was directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and co-written by Kasdan and screenwriter William Goldman...
(2003) - ZombielandZombielandZombieland is a 2009 American zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse...
(2009; uncredited)
Screenplays (unproduced)
- Flowers for Algernon: Good Old Charley Gordon (1964) - an adaptation of the story Flowers for AlgernonFlowers for AlgernonFlowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...
done for actor Cliff RobertsonCliff RobertsonClifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
- Robertson was unhappy with the version and hired Stirling SilliphantStirling SilliphantStirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...
to write what became CharlyCharlyCharly is a 1968 American film directed by Ralph Nelson. The drama stars Cliff Robertson , Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten and tells the story of a mentally retarded bakery worker who is the subject of an experiment to increase human intelligence...
(1968) - The Chill (1967) - adaptation of the 1964 Ross MacdonaldRoss MacdonaldNot to be confused with John D. MacDonaldRoss Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar...
Lew Archer novel - In the Spring the War Ended (1968) - from the novel by Stephen Linakis
- The Thing of It Is aka That's Life (1968) - adapted from his novel
- Piano Man - adaptation of his novel Father's Day
- PapillionPapillionPapillion may refer to:*Papillion, Nebraska, U.S.**Papillion-La Vista Public Schools**Papillion-La Vista Senior High School**Papillion Junior High*Papillion Creek, Nebraska, U.S....
- adaptation of the novel which was not used - The Sea Kings - first of a three-picture deal with Joe E. Levine
- The Ski Bum aka Hot Shot (1981) - based on the article "The Ski Bum as an Endangered Species" by Jean Vallely
- The Right StuffThe Right StuffThe Right Stuff is a 1983 American film adapted from Tom Wolfe's 1979 book The Right Stuff about the test pilots who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base as well as those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt at manned...
- adaptation of the Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
book that was not used - Rescue! (1980-81) - story of the rescue of employees of Ross PerotRoss PerotHenry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
by Arthur D. SimonsArthur D. SimonsColonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons was a US Army Special Forces officer, best known for leading the Son Tay raid, an attempted rescue of American prisoners of war from a North Vietnamese prison at Son Tay.-Early life:Arthur David Simons was born in New York City, moving to Missouri in his youth...
during the Iranian revolutionIranian RevolutionThe Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the... - Flora Quick, Dead or Alive
- The National Pasttime
- Singing Out Loud - unproduced musical worked on with Rob ReinerRob ReinerRobert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
and Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award... - Low Fives (1992)
- Mission Impossible 2
Novels
- The Temple of Gold (1957)
- Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow (1958)
- Soldier in the RainSoldier in the RainSoldier in the Rain , starring Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen, is a comedy-drama film about the friendship between an aging Army Master Sergeant and a young country bumpkin buck sergeant . Tuesday Weld also stars....
(1960) - Boys and Girls Together (1964)
- No Way to Treat a LadyNo Way to Treat a LadyNo Way to Treat a Lady is a darkly comic thriller directed by Jack Smight, with a screenplay by John Gay adapted from William Goldman's novel of the same name. The film starred Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal and Eileen Heckart...
(1964) - The Thing of It Is... (1967)
- Father's Day (1971; sequel to The Thing of It Is)
- The Princess BrideThe Princess BrideThe Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
(1973)
- Marathon ManMarathon ManMarathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.-Plot synopsis:...
(1974) - MagicMagic (novel)Magic: A Novel is a psychological horror novel written by William Goldman. It was released in the United States in August 1976 by Delacorte Press...
(1976) - Tinsel (1979)
- Control (1982)
- The Silent GondoliersThe Silent GondoliersThe Silent Gondoliers is a 1983 novel written by William Goldman, under the pseudonym of "S. Morgenstern", about why the gondoliers of Venice no longer sing through the tale of the protagonist Luigi...
(1983) - The Color of LightThe Color of LightThe Color of Light is a novel by William Goldman, published in 1984. It is about the life of writer Charles 'Chub' Fuller, who while attending Oberlin College from 1968-1972 channels his childhood experiences as the only child of an alcoholic, suicidal father and a moody, impossible-to-please...
(1984) - Heat (published in the United Kingdom as Edged Weapons) (1985)
- BrothersBrothers (novel)Brothers is a thriller novel by William Goldman. It is the sequel to his 1972 novel Marathon Man.In the sequel, Doc "Scylla" Levy, brother of Marathon Mans protagonist Babe Levy, survives his stabbing. The plot concerns an effort to instigate World War III by means of simultaneous, worldwide...
(1986)
Non-fiction and memoirs
- The Season: A Candid Look at BroadwayThe Season: A Candid Look at BroadwayThe Season: A Candid Look at Broadway is an account of the 1967-68 season on and off Broadway by American novelist and screenwriter William Goldman. It was originally published in 1969 and is considered one of the best books ever written on American theater. In The New York Times, Christopher...
(1969) - The Story of 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977)
- Adventures in the Screen TradeAdventures in the Screen TradeAdventures in the Screen Trade is a book about Hollywood written in 1983 by American novelist and screenwriter William Goldman. The title is a parody of Dylan Thomas's Adventures in the Skin Trade.-Overview:The book is divided into three parts....
: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting (1983) - Wait Till Next Year (with Mike LupicaMike LupicaMichael Lupica is an American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.-Biography:...
) (1988) - Hype and Glory (1990)
- Four Screenplays (1995) (Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, and Misery, with an essay on each)
- Five Screenplays (1997) (All the President's Men, Magic, Harper, Maverick, and The Great Waldo Pepper, with an essay on each)
- Which Lie Did I Tell?Which Lie Did I Tell?Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade is a work of non-fiction first published in 2000 by novelist and screenwriter William Goldman...
(More Adventures in the Screen Trade) (2000) - The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays (2001)