William Goldman

William Goldman (1931–2018) was an Academy Award–winning author of screenplays, plays, memoirs, and novels. Born near Chicago, he earned his bachelor of arts degree at Oberlin College, where he began writing fiction, followed by a master of arts degree at Columbia University. His first novel, The Temple of Gold (1957), was followed by the script for the Broadway army comedy Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961). He began writing for Hollywood soon after, and would script some of the finest films of the era, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President’s Men (1976), for which he won two Academy Awards.
Goldman continued writing novels, several of which he then adapted as screenplays, including the hit movies Marathon Man (1976), Magic (1978), and The Princess Bride (1987). He also wrote acclaimed essays, and several memoirs of his career in Hollywood.