Bo Goldman(1932-2023)
- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
There are but a few select screenwriters who are spoken of with the
kind of reverence usually reserved for film directors -
Robert Towne,
Alvin Sargent and
Bo Goldman. Goldman is a screenwriter's
screenwriter, and one of the most honored in motion picture history.
The recipient of two Academy Awards, a New York Film Critics Award, two
Writers Guild Awards, three Golden Globes, additional Academy Award and
Writers Guild nominations and, ultimately, the Guild's life achievement
Award - The Laurel.
Born in New York City, Goldman was educated at Exeter and Princeton
where he wrote, produced, composed the lyrics and was president of the
famed Triangle show, a proving ground for
James Stewart and director
Joshua Logan. On graduation, he
went directly to Broadway as the lyricist for "First Impressions",
based on Jane Austen's "Pride and
Prejudice", produced by composer Jule Styne
and directed by Abe Burrows, starring
Hermione Gingold,
Polly Bergen and
Farley Granger.
Moving into television, Goldman was mentored by the redoubtable
Fred Coe (the
"D.W. Griffith of dramatic
television") and became part of the twilight of The Golden Age,
associate producing and script editing Coe's prestigious
Playhouse 90 (1956)'s, "The Days of Wine and Roses", "A Plot to Kill Stalin" and Horton Foote's
"Old Man". Goldman went on to himself produce and write for Public
Television on the award-winning NET Playhouse. During this period,
Goldman first tried his hand at screen-writing, resulting in an early
version of Shoot the Moon (1982)
which stirred the interest of Hollywood and became his calling card.
After reading
Shoot the Moon (1982),
Milos Forman asked Goldman to write the
screenplay for
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Goldman's first produced film won all five top Academy Awards including
Best Screenplay for Goldman. "Cuckoo's Nest" was the first film to win
the top five awards since Frank Capra's
It Happened One Night (1934).
Goldman also received the Writers Guild Award and the Golden Globe
Award for his work on the film.
He next wrote The Rose (1979), which was
nominated for four Academy Awards, followed by his original screenplay,
Melvin and Howard (1980), which
garnered Goldman his second Oscar, second Writers Guild Award and the
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Screenplay of the Year.
Goldman's first screenplay,
Shoot the Moon (1982), that
started it all, was then filmed by
Alan Parker, starring
Diane Keaton and
Albert Finney, the film received
international acclaim and was embraced by America's most respected film
critics including Pauline Kael and
Richard Schickel. For
Shoot the Moon (1982), Goldman
earned his third Writers Guild nomination.
Over the next few years, he contributed uncredited work to countless
scripts, including Milos Forman's
Ragtime (1981), starring
James Cagney and
Donald O'Connor,
The Flamingo Kid (1984),
starring Matt Dillon, and
Warren Beatty's
Dick Tracy (1990).
Goldman tried his hand at directing an adaptation of
Susan Minot's novel "Monkeys", and a
re-imagining of Ingmar Bergman's
Wild Strawberries (1957) as a vehicle for
Gregory Peck, but for budgetary and
scheduling reasons, both movies lost their start dates. Goldman
returned solely to screen-writing with
Scent of a Woman (1992),
starring Al Pacino. Goldman was honored with
his third Academy Award nomination and his third Golden Globe Award. He
followed this with Harold Becker's
City Hall (1996), starring
Al Pacino and
John Cusack, and then co-wrote
Meet Joe Black (1998), starring
Brad Pitt and
Anthony Hopkins.
More recently, Goldman did a page one uncredited rewrite of
The Perfect Storm (2000). It
was Goldman's script that green lit the movie at Warner Bros. and
convinced George Clooney to star in the
film, which went on to earn $327,000,000.
In 2005, he helped prepare the shooting script for
Milos Forman's
Goya's Ghosts (2006), produced by
Saul Zaentz and starring
Natalie Portman and
Javier Bardem.
He wrote a script for a remake of
Jules Dassin's
Rififi (1955), for director Harold Becker,
starring Al Pacino.
Goldman is married to Mab Ashforth, and is
the father of six children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. He resides in
Rockville, Maine.
kind of reverence usually reserved for film directors -
Robert Towne,
Alvin Sargent and
Bo Goldman. Goldman is a screenwriter's
screenwriter, and one of the most honored in motion picture history.
The recipient of two Academy Awards, a New York Film Critics Award, two
Writers Guild Awards, three Golden Globes, additional Academy Award and
Writers Guild nominations and, ultimately, the Guild's life achievement
Award - The Laurel.
Born in New York City, Goldman was educated at Exeter and Princeton
where he wrote, produced, composed the lyrics and was president of the
famed Triangle show, a proving ground for
James Stewart and director
Joshua Logan. On graduation, he
went directly to Broadway as the lyricist for "First Impressions",
based on Jane Austen's "Pride and
Prejudice", produced by composer Jule Styne
and directed by Abe Burrows, starring
Hermione Gingold,
Polly Bergen and
Farley Granger.
Moving into television, Goldman was mentored by the redoubtable
Fred Coe (the
"D.W. Griffith of dramatic
television") and became part of the twilight of The Golden Age,
associate producing and script editing Coe's prestigious
Playhouse 90 (1956)'s, "The Days of Wine and Roses", "A Plot to Kill Stalin" and Horton Foote's
"Old Man". Goldman went on to himself produce and write for Public
Television on the award-winning NET Playhouse. During this period,
Goldman first tried his hand at screen-writing, resulting in an early
version of Shoot the Moon (1982)
which stirred the interest of Hollywood and became his calling card.
After reading
Shoot the Moon (1982),
Milos Forman asked Goldman to write the
screenplay for
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Goldman's first produced film won all five top Academy Awards including
Best Screenplay for Goldman. "Cuckoo's Nest" was the first film to win
the top five awards since Frank Capra's
It Happened One Night (1934).
Goldman also received the Writers Guild Award and the Golden Globe
Award for his work on the film.
He next wrote The Rose (1979), which was
nominated for four Academy Awards, followed by his original screenplay,
Melvin and Howard (1980), which
garnered Goldman his second Oscar, second Writers Guild Award and the
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Screenplay of the Year.
Goldman's first screenplay,
Shoot the Moon (1982), that
started it all, was then filmed by
Alan Parker, starring
Diane Keaton and
Albert Finney, the film received
international acclaim and was embraced by America's most respected film
critics including Pauline Kael and
Richard Schickel. For
Shoot the Moon (1982), Goldman
earned his third Writers Guild nomination.
Over the next few years, he contributed uncredited work to countless
scripts, including Milos Forman's
Ragtime (1981), starring
James Cagney and
Donald O'Connor,
The Flamingo Kid (1984),
starring Matt Dillon, and
Warren Beatty's
Dick Tracy (1990).
Goldman tried his hand at directing an adaptation of
Susan Minot's novel "Monkeys", and a
re-imagining of Ingmar Bergman's
Wild Strawberries (1957) as a vehicle for
Gregory Peck, but for budgetary and
scheduling reasons, both movies lost their start dates. Goldman
returned solely to screen-writing with
Scent of a Woman (1992),
starring Al Pacino. Goldman was honored with
his third Academy Award nomination and his third Golden Globe Award. He
followed this with Harold Becker's
City Hall (1996), starring
Al Pacino and
John Cusack, and then co-wrote
Meet Joe Black (1998), starring
Brad Pitt and
Anthony Hopkins.
More recently, Goldman did a page one uncredited rewrite of
The Perfect Storm (2000). It
was Goldman's script that green lit the movie at Warner Bros. and
convinced George Clooney to star in the
film, which went on to earn $327,000,000.
In 2005, he helped prepare the shooting script for
Milos Forman's
Goya's Ghosts (2006), produced by
Saul Zaentz and starring
Natalie Portman and
Javier Bardem.
He wrote a script for a remake of
Jules Dassin's
Rififi (1955), for director Harold Becker,
starring Al Pacino.
Goldman is married to Mab Ashforth, and is
the father of six children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. He resides in
Rockville, Maine.