Having seen the job well-done by Goldman, Cliff had him rewrite Masquerade, which was Goldman’s very first screen credit. His writing career to a sharp turn in 1964 when an actor, Cliff Robertson commissioned him to adapt the screenplays for Flower for Algernon, which was renamed Charleyand for which Cliff won the Academy Awards for the Best Actor. Marathon Manwas the thriller he wrote after the death of his first agent, prior to which he focused on serious literary works.
His debut novel was The Temple of Gold, which was a success. It should be noted that, initially, William did set out to be a poet and novelist but not a screenwriter, which he was later well-known for across the globe today.īefore he started his career as a screenwriter, William Goldman had had five novels in prints and three plays produced on Broadway. Meanwhile, in his spare time, he resorted to doing what he loved the most – writing short stories – and strove to get them published.Īccording to William Goldman himself, he said he began writing after he took a creative writing course at his alma mater. After he was discharged as a corporal from the army, he went to Columbia University for his master degree. Afterward, he joined the army as a typist and was sent to the Pentagon as a clerical officer in 1954. William Goldman obtained his BA degree from Oberlin College in 1952. Consequently, William and James, his brother, were left alone to cater for their mother, Marion Goldman, who had a hearing impairment. Maurice later committed suicide when William was still in high school. His father, Maurice Goldman, was a businessman whose successful business eventually went south due to his alcoholism. William Goldman was born into a Jewish family in Chicago. The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays – Amazon.Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade – Amazon.Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting – Amazon.His books on the craft of screenwriting are legendary and a must-read for any screenwriter. His fiction novels became popular in the 1950s and after then he ventured into the into the world of writing screenplays, for which he won so many prestigious awards including two Academy Awards(firstly, for the western Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid in 1969, and then for All the President’s Men in 1976) William Goldman, one of the most successful and prolific novelists, playwright and screenwriter ever, was born on August 12 ,1931. Though his name may not ring a bell with people who are not the within the entertainment industry, but it is definitely a household name anybody who works within the industry.
Stated above is one the millions of great testimonies people around the world have to say about the iconic writer, William Goldman. “William Goldman is, by far, one of the most popular storytellers of our generation,” says Sean Edgar, an author. Screenplay by William Goldman – Read the screenplay! Screenplay by William Goldman – Read the screenplay! DREAMCATCHER(2003) Screenplay by William Goldman – Read the transcript! ABSOLUTE POWER (1996) Screenplay by William Goldman – Read the screenplay! MAVERICK(1994)