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 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!

Awards:

· Edgar Allen Poe Award - Best Motion Picture Screenplay - Harper

· Writers Guild of America Award - Best-Written American Drama Written Directly for the Screen - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

· Oscar - Best Original Screenplay - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

· British Film Academy Award - Best Screenplay - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

· Writers Guild of America Award - Best-Written Drama Adapted from Another Medium - All the President’s Men

· Oscar - Best Adapted Screenplay - All the President’s Men

· NATO Writer of the Year Award - presented by the National Association of Theater Owners

· Writers Guild of America Laurel Award

· NATO Writer of the Year Award - presented by the National Association of Theater Owners

· Las Vegas Film Critics William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award

All data from Baseline-FilmTracker. For more biographical information on Charlie Kaufman or other writers, directors, actors, and producers, please visit www.baseline.hollywood.com.