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William Goldman: Screenplays
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The younger brother of writer James Goldman, William Goldman has successfully tackled every sort of professional writing, from children's books to novels to essays to plays to screenplays. He is even more prolific than some people might assume: several of Goldman's works were published under the nom de plume Harry Longbaugh....
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William Goldman is famous for his Academy Award-winning screenplays, infamous for the thriller that did for dentists what Psycho did for showers, beloved for his hilarious "hot fairy-tale," and notorious for his candid behind-the-scenes Hollywood chronicles. Read more >
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Over Christmas vacation in 1965-1966, Goldman was teaching creative writing at Princeton University in New Jersey. During this time he wrote a screenplay called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Initially every studio he showed it to turned down the screenplay. Eventually 20th Century Fox took on the project and William Goldman's place in movie history was set. From that moment on, Goldman new writing screenplays was going to be a big part of his life. Even today he considers George Roy Hill the greatest director he has ever worked with, and this particular movie stands as Goldman's biggest commercial success of his career.
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When 1964 had rolled onto the calendar, Goldman had pounded out four more books as well as three plays. All three plays opened on Broadway, and proceeded to bomb. However, two of the novels, No Way to Treat a Lady, and Soldier in the Rain, were both adapted to the big screen. 1964 proved to be a turning point in William Goldman's career. He was approached by actor Cliff Robertson and asked to write a screenplay. The screenplay was rejected, and Goldman was, in turn, fired from the project.
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Following the success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Goldman continued to write both novels and screenplays. In 1973 he wrote the novel The Princess Bride. The title of the novel came about through his daughters, who at the time were 7 and 4. He would make up bedtime stories for them, and one night, asking them what they wanted his next story to be about, one replied "princesses," the other "brides." It took along time and a lot of heartache for Goldman to complete the novel, and he admits that to this day it is the only novel of his that he really likes. Although Goldman wrote the screenplay for the film shortly after he wrote the novel, many years passed before the movie became a reality.
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While he could have turned tail, ran out of Hollywood and tried his luck with writing novels again, Goldman did nothing of the sort. In 1965 he doctored the screenplay to Masquerade. The following year, Goldman became impressed with a novel written by Ross Macdonald and wrote a screenplay based off the novel which he titled, Harper. Harper starred Paul Newman and was a hit, although it was nothing compared to what was around the corner. Well, two or three corners anyway.
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