William Goldman

William Goldman (August 12, 1931 - November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright whose career stretched across seven decades. He wrote 16 novels and numerous screenplays, moving between books, theater, film, memoir, and essays with unusual ease. He came of age after World War II, began publishing in the 1950s, and became one of the most admired screenwriters of the late twentieth century.

Goldman is best known for three films that became touchstones of American screenwriting: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), All the President’s Men (1976), and The Princess Bride (1987), which he adapted from his own 1973 novel. For Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, his first original screenplay, he received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with screenplay honors from the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. For All the President’s Men, he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. All three films were inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and appeared on the Writers Guild of America’s 2006 list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays.

His range was wide. Goldman adapted his novels Marathon Man, Magic, and Heat for the screen, with Heat later filmed again as Wild Card in 2015. He wrote screenplays for The Stepford Wives, A Bridge Too Far, Chaplin, and The Ghost and the Darkness. He adapted Stephen King’s work for Misery, Hearts in Atlantis, and Dreamcatcher, and later adapted Misery for the stage in 2012. His produced plays included Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole and A Family Affair, both written with his brother James Goldman.

Goldman’s early life was marked by strain as well as discipline. He was born in Chicago, grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and was raised Jewish. His father, once a successful businessman, suffered from alcoholism, lost his business, and died by suicide while Goldman was still in high school. His mother was deaf, adding more stress at home. At Oberlin College, Goldman began writing after taking a creative-writing course, though his grades in it were poor. After graduating in 1952, he was drafted during the Korean War and served as a clerk at the Pentagon because he knew how to type. He later earned a Master of Arts degree at Columbia University under the G.I. Bill.

Before screenwriting, Goldman thought of himself mainly as a writer of poetry, short stories, and novels. His first novel, The Temple of Gold, was completed in less than three weeks and published by Knopf after revision. He followed it with Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow and Soldier in the Rain, the latter based on his time in the military. He also wrote nonfiction, including The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, Adventures in the Screen Trade, Which Lie Did I Tell?, and The Big Picture. In later years he mentored writers, including Aaron Sorkin.

Goldman was self-effacing about his own work, but his work reached millions without giving up wit, intelligence, or surprise. Sean Egan wrote that Goldman never let his populism overwhelm his “glittering intelligence and penchant for upending expectation.” That balance explains why his lines, scenes, and stories still feel so alive: they were built for audiences, but never talked down to them.