Authors' involvement with Academy Award films
by AlexHartsell | created - 22 Sep 2013 | updated - 2 weeks ago | Public
101. August Wilson
Writer | Fences
August Wilson once dropped out of school, disillusioned after having been unjustly accused of plagiarism by a racist instructor who could not fathom the artistic and intellectual genius of a then young Black male writer. Wilson was not disillusioned forever. Having now completed a decade by decade ...
Fences Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
102. Romain Gary
Writer | The Longest Day
Romain Gary was born on May 8, 1914 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a writer and actor, known for The Longest Day (1962), Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! (1971) and Birds in Peru (1968). He was married to Jean Seberg and Lesley Blanch. He died on December 2, 1980 in Paris, France.
The Longest Day Madame Rosa The Life Ahead
103. Larry McMurtry
Writer | Brokeback Mountain
Larry McMurtry was born on June 3, 1936 in Archer City, Texas, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), The Last Picture Show (1971) and Streets of Laredo (1995). He was married to Faye Kesey and Josephine Ballard. He died on March 25, 2021 in Archer City, Texas, USA.
Hud The Last Picture Show Terms of Endearment Brokeback Mountain
104. Kazuo Ishiguro
Writer | Living
Kazuo Ishiguro was born on November 8, 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan. He is a writer and producer, known for Living (2022), Never Let Me Go (2010) and The Remains of the Day (1993). He has been married to Lorna Anne MacDougall since 1986. They have one child.
The Remains of the Day Ex Machina Living
105. Dick King-Smith
Writer | Babe
Dick King-Smith was born on March 27, 1922 in Bitton, Gloucestershire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Babe (1995), The Water Horse (2007) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998). He was married to Zona Bedding and Myrle King-Smith. He died on January 4, 2011 in Bath, Somerset, England, UK.
Babe Babe: Pig in the Big City
106. Cressida Cowell
Writer | How to Train Your Dragon
Cressida Cowell is known for How to Train Your Dragon (2010), How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014).
How to Train Your Dragon How to Train Your Dragon 2 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
107. Charles Addams
Writer | The Addams Family
Charles Samuel Addams, or Chill as his friends called him, was born on January 7, 1912, in Westfield, New Jersey. Records show at the time of his birth the Addams' lived on Summit Avenue. They moved several times before taking up permanent residence in 1920 on Elm Street and stayed there until 1947...
The Addams Family Addams Family Values
108. Edmond Rostand
Writer | Roxanne
Edmund Rostand was a prominent French playwright and poet.
Rostand, who was born in Marseille on 1 April, 1868, the son of the distinguished economist Eugene Rostand (1843-1915), first achieved success in Paris at the age of twenty with his vaudeville sketch 'Le Gant Rouge". A collection of poems in...
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950 film) Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film) Cyrano
109. Frank Herbert
Writer | Dune
Frank Herbert was born on October 8, 1920 in Tacoma, Washington, USA. He was a writer, known for Dune (2021), Dune (1984) and Dune: Part Two (2024). He was married to Theresa Shackleford, Beverley Ann Stuart and Flora Parkinson. He died on February 11, 1986 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Dune Dune: Part One
110. James M. Cain
Writer | Double Indemnity
James M. Cain was a 'Film Noir' author. His father was a professor, and president, of 'Washington College'. His mother was an opera singer in Maryland.
James graduated from the same college in 1910, and became a writer for 'Baltimore American', then 'Baltimore Sun' [still being published] by 1914. ...
Algiers Blockade When Tomorrow Comes The Shanghai Gesture Double Indemnity Mildred Pierce
111. E.T.A. Hoffmann
Writer | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
E.T.A. Hoffmann was born on the 24th of January 1776 in Königsberg (now Russia) as the son of a lawyer. After his father's death he has a very bad childhood ending when he went to university to study law between 1792-95. He managed to get into the bureaucratic services of the state Prussia, but was...
The Tales of Hoffmann The Sandman
112. Ernest Hemingway
Writer | To Have and Have Not
Ernest Hemingway was an American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize (1953) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) for his novel The Old Man and the Sea, which was made into a 1958 film The Old Man and the Sea (1958).
He was born into the hands of his physician father. He was the second of six ...
A Farewell to Arms (1932 film) For Whom the Bell Tolls The Killers The Snows of Killimanjaro A Farewell to Arms (1957 film) The Old Man and the Sea Islands in the Stream The Old Man and the Sea (animated short film) The Reader
113. Jean-Claude Grumberg
Writer | Amen.
Jean-Claude Grumberg was born on July 26, 1939 in Paris, France. He is a writer and actor, known for Amen. (2002), The Ax (2005) and À droite toute (2008).
The Last Metro The Artist
114. Erich Maria Remarque
Writer | A Time to Love and a Time to Die
The German novelist Erich Maria Remarque was born in Osnabrück in 1898. His first novel, the famous anti-war epic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), was written based on his experiences as a soldier in WWI, and published in 1929. He moved to Switzerland until 1939 and later emigrated to the US....
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film) Three Comrades So Ends Our Night A Time to Love and a Time to Die The Longest Day All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)
115. Walt Kelly
Animation_department | Dumbo
Walt Kelly was born on August 25, 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Dumbo (1941), The Pogo Special Birthday Special (1969) and I Go Pogo (1980). He was married to Selby Daley, Stephanie Waggony and Helen DeLacy. He died on October 19, 1973 in Los Angeles,...
Pinocchio (1940 film) Fantasia Dumbo American Splendor
116. Mike Kunkel
Animation_department | Hercules
Mike Kunkel was born on September 30, 1969 in California, USA. Mike is a director, known for Hercules (1997), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (2005).
Hercules Tarzan The Little Matchgirl Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
117. Paul Gallico
Writer | The Poseidon Adventure
Sports writer, screenwriter and novelist Paul Gallico was born in 1897 in New York City. His parents were immigrants (father from Italy, mother from Austria) who emigrated to the US in 1895. He was educated in the New York City public school system, and entered Columbia University in 1916, ...
The Pride of the Yankees Lilli The Poseidon Adventure Poseidon Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
118. Jack London
Writer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Jack London was the best-selling, highest paid and most popular American author of his time.
He was born John Griffith Chaney, on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco. He was raised by his mother Flora Wellman and his stepfather John London (he didn't know who his father was until his adulthood). ...
The Sea Wolf The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
119. Paul Dini
Writer | Batman Beyond
Paul Dini is an American animator and writer known for his contributions to DC Comics, including Batman: The Animated Series, Gotham Girls and fan favorite character Harley Quinn. He also worked on Batman: Arkham Asylum and it's sequel Batman: Arkham City as well as a 2003 animated pilot based on ...
Maleficent Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad
120. Greg Sestero
Actor | The Room
Greg Sestero was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. With European parental influence, Greg speaks both French and English. He traveled extensively early on, and holds dual citizenship between France and the United States.
At 17 years old, Greg signed with a prominent San Francisco talent ...
Gattaca Patch Adams The Disaster Artist
121. Joyce Carol Oates
Writer | Blonde
Joyce Carol Oates was born on June 16, 1938 in Lockport, New York, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Blonde (2022), Vengeance: A Love Story (2017) and Smooth Talk (1985). She was previously married to Charles Gross and Raymond Smith.
In the Region of Ice Blonde
122. Norman Mailer
Writer | Tough Guys Don't Dance
Norman Mailer, the Brooklyn-born and -bred writer who fought for what he characterized as the "heavyweight championship" of American letters after the 1961 death of Ernest Hemingway, never came close to his dream of writing the Great American novel, but he was a colossus of American culture and ...
An American Dream Ragtime When We Were Kings
123. Brian Kesinger
Actor | Wreck-It Ralph
Brian Kesinger is known for Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Big Hero 6 (2014).
Tarzan Treasure Planet Bolt Wreck-It Ralph Big Hero 6 Zootopia Moana Ralph Breaks the Internet
124. Richard Condon
Writer | Prizzi's Honor
Richard Condon was born on March 18, 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Prizzi's Honor (1985), The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). He was married to Evelyn Hunt. He died on April 9, 1996 in Dallas, Texas, USA.
The Manchurian Candidate Prizzi's Honor
125. C.S. Forester
Writer | The African Queen
'Cecil Scott Forester' was born on 27th August, 1899 in Cairo, Egypt. He was educated in England at Alleyn's School and Dulwich College, at neither of which, he said, he made any particular impression except as an extremely naughty boy. He left Dulwich College and attempted to take up medicine but ...
Commandos Strike at Dawn The African Queen Greyhound
126. William Faulkner
Writer | To Have and Have Not
William Faulkner, one of the 20th century's most gifted novelists, wrote for the movies in part because he could not make enough money from his novels and short stories to support his growing number of dependants. The author of such acclaimed novels as "The Sound and the Fury" and "Absalom, Absalom...
Gunga Din Drums Along the Mohawk Air Force The Southerner Mildred Pierce Adventures of Don Juan The Reivers Sling Blade Two Soldiers
127. Carl Sagan
Writer | Contact
Astronomer, educator and author Carl Sagan was perhaps the world's greatest popularizer of science, reaching millions of people through newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts. He is well-known for his work on the PBS series Cosmos (1980), the Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning show that ...
For All Mankind Contact An Inconvenient Truth
128. Alice Walker
Writer | The Color Purple
Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for The Color Purple (1985), The Color Purple (2023) and Everyday Use (2003). She was previously married to Melvyn R. Leventhal.
The Color Purple (1985 film) The Color Purple (2023 film)
129. Tina Turner
Soundtrack | Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
With almost fifty years in the music business, Tina Turner became one of the most commercially successful international female rock stars. Her sultry, powerful voice, her incredible legs, her time-tested beauty and her unforgettable story all contributed to her legendary status.
Born to a ...
Tommy Days of Thunder What's Love Got to Do with It Brother Bear
130. W.P. Kinsella
Writer | Field of Dreams
W.P. Kinsella was born on May 25, 1935 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was a writer, known for Field of Dreams (1989), Sister Ann of the Cornfield and Dance Me Outside (1994). He was married to Barbara. He died on September 16, 2016 in Hope, British Columbia, Canada.
Field of Dreams Lieberman in Love
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