William Goldman
William Goldman (1931-2018) was a famous American screenwriter, novelist and Hollywood script doctor. His works include:
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- A Bridge Too Far
- Harper
- Magic, a quirky novel made into a movie starring a very young Anthony Hopkins.
- Marathon Man - original novel (and its sequel Brothers) and screenplay.
- The Stepford Wives (screenplay for the original film based on the novel by Ira Levin)
- All the President's Men
- Adventures in the Screen Trade
- The Princess Bride. Both the original book and the screenplay for the movie.
He also wrote a number of books on the writing process and the Hollywood business, from the POV of an author, complete with useful advice. Additionally, in 1968 he wrote The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, which not only reviewed every show on Broadway of that year, but the patterns that theater was taking, the impact of the Great White Way on New York City itself, and many other such topics. He managed to offhandedly predict what Broadway would turn into in a few years.
Famous also for coining the phrase "Nobody knows anything". His Signature Style included Self-Deprecation (as a writer, as a Jewish man, as a member of the Hollywood movie machine), humorous asides to the readers, and long and convoluted sentences thanks to Stream of Consciousness.
BFF of Stephen King.