GOLDMAN, WILLIAM

GOLDMAN, WILLIAM (1931– ), U.S. novelist-screenwriter. Born to businessman Maurice Clarence and Marion Goldman (née Weil) in Chicago, Illinois, Goldman grew up in suburban Highland Park, spending his time at the Alcyon Theater watching films. He studied writing at Oberlin College. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1952, he did a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. Following his discharge as a corporal in 1954, he did graduate work in English at Columbia University, graduating in 1956. During the summer he wrote the novel The Temple of Gold in 10 days. Accepted by Alfred A. Knopf, it was published in 1957. He went on to write Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow (1958), and Soldier in the Rain (1960). Goldman followed those first novels with No Way to Treat a Lady (1964) and Boys and Girls Together (1964). Goldman was hired to adapt the novel The Moving Target, which became the Paul Newman film Harper (1966), but continued to focus on novels. In 1961, Goldman began the screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; released in 1969, the film earned Goldman an Oscar for best original screenplay. His next two works were adaptations, The Stepford Wives (1975) and All the President's Men (1976), which earned him another Oscar. He continued to write novels during this time, including Marathon Man (1975) and Magic (1976), both of which were adapted for film. His screenplays for The Princess Bride (based on his 1973 novel) and his adaptation of Stephen King's Misery (1990), both for director Rob Reiner, received critical acclaim. Goldman also had success with his screenplay for the Clint Eastwood film Absolute Power (1997). More recent produced work includes The General's Daughter (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (2001), and Dreamcatcher (2003). Goldman also established himself as an authority on the ways of Hollywood with his books Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983) and What Lie Did I Tell? (2000). (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)