SORKIN, AARON

SORKIN, AARON (1961– ), U.S. writer-producer. Born in Manhattan and raised in Scarsdale, New York, Sorkin began acting in the eighth grade and in high school he joined the school drama club. He studied theater at Syracuse University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1983. While trying to break into acting in New York, Sorkin began writing plays. His first, Removing Doubt, was unsuccessful, but Hidden in This Picture (1988) was staged at the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theater Bar in New York. His next play, A Few Good Men (1992), was inspired by his sister, who had gone to the U.S. Marine base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to arbitrate a murder case. The play appeared on Broadway, and Sorkin was hired to write the screenplay for the motion picture starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. In 1993, he helped write the screenplay for Malice, and was invited by stephen spielberg to help polish the script for Schindler's List. He took two years to write the screenplay for The American President (1995), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. During this time Sorkin admitted to a cocaine problem, for which he sought treatment at the Hazelden Institute in Minnesota. Sorkin took inspiration from ESPN's Sportscenter for his first foray into television, ABC's Sports Nigh t (1998–2000), which was favorably reviewed by critics but never found its audience. In 1999, he debuted his Emmy Award-winning show about the White House, NBC's The West Wing, which featured Sorkin's trademark rapid-fire dialogue. Tensions over budgets and production delays grew between Sorkin and Warner Brothers, which produced West Wing, leading to Sorkin's departure from the show after the season finale in 2003. (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)