William Goldman was an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. His brother, James Goldman, is also a screenwriter and playwright. Goldman grew up in Chicago and gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College and then a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University following his discharge from the army. He began experimenting with short stories while at university but he did not write his first novel, The Temple of Gold, until 1956. By this time, he was living with his brother and the composer John Kander in New York. He went on to write several successful novels, including Boys and Girls Together, No Way to Treat a Lady, Soldier in the Rain, and Marathon Man.
After dipping their toe into the theatre world doing some rewrites on the 1960 musical, Tenderloin, Goldman and his brother teamed up to write their own play, Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole (1961), which was based on their time in the army. They then brought Kander on board to write their first musical, A Family Affair (1962). The show was not a hit but marked Hal Prince’s directorial debut. Goldman did not write for the stage again until 2012 when he adapted Stephen King’s novel, Misery.
Goldman also wrote extensively as a screenwriter and scored several huge hits. His first major success was the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which earned Goldman his first Academy Award. He also wrote the screenplays for The Stepford Wives (1975), All the President’s Men (1976; Academy Award), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Misery (1990), Year of the Comet (1992), and Chaplin (1992), among many others.
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