William Goldman
| William Goldman | |
|---|---|
Goldman at the 2008 Screenwriting Expo
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| Born |
August 12, 1931 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Pen name | S. Morgenstern |
| Occupation | Non-fiction author, novelist, playwright, screenwriter |
| Alma mater |
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| Genre | Drama, fiction, literature, thriller |
| Spouse | Ilene Jones (1961–1991; divorced; 2 children, Jenny Rebecca and Susanna) |
| Relatives | James Goldman (brother) |
William Goldman (born August 12, 1931) is an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist, before turning to writing for film. He has won two Academy Awards for his screenplays, first for the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and again for All the President's Men (1976), about journalists who broke the Watergate scandal of President Richard Nixon. Both films starred Robert Redford.
His other notable works include his thriller novel Marathon Man and comedy-fantasy novel The Princess Bride, both of which Goldman adapted for film.
Author Sean Egan has described Goldman as "one of the late twentieth century’s most popular storytellers."
Goldman was born in Chicago and grew up in a Jewish family in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, the son of Marion (née Weil) and Maurice Clarence Goldman, who worked in business.
Goldman's father initially was a successful businessman, working in Chicago and then in partnership, but his alcoholism eventually sank his business. He "came home to live and he was in his pajamas for the last five years of his life," according to Goldman. Maurice Goldman killed himself while his son was still in high school. Marion Goldman's deafness increased the stress in the home.
Goldman received a bachelor of arts degree from Oberlin College in 1952, then went into the army. He knew how to type, so was sent to the Pentagon, where he worked as a clerk until discharged with the rank of corporal in September 1954. He then matriculated at Columbia University, where he earned a master of arts degree in 1956. Throughout all this, Goldman wrote short stories in the evenings but struggled to have them published.
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