William Goldman Biography Quotes 13 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
William Goldman was born on August 12, 1931, in Highland Park, Illinois, and grew up in a family where books and storytelling mattered. His older brother, James Goldman, would also become a prominent writer, best known for The Lion in Winter and the book for the musical Follies. The two brothers shared an early fascination with the stage and the page, a bond that shaped both of their careers. William studied at Oberlin College, developed a serious commitment to writing, and after military service in the United States Army, completed graduate work at Columbia University. By his mid-twenties he was publishing short stories and working toward a first novel, determined to make a life from the craft he had chosen.

Novelist and Playwright
Goldman debuted as a novelist with The Temple of Gold (1957), a lean, moving book that drew attention for its clarity and emotional precision. He followed with Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow (1958) and Soldier in the Rain (1960), the latter later adapted into a feature film. Boys and Girls Together (1964) consolidated his reputation as a serious popular novelist, unafraid of large-scale storytelling about ambition and disappointment. In the same year he published the thriller No Way to Treat a Lady under a pseudonym, showing a deft command of suspense that would become one of his signatures. He also wrote for the stage with his brother James: the Broadway play Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961) drew on their experiences and interest in character-driven drama, and the brothers co-wrote the book for the Broadway musical A Family Affair, with music by John Kander.

Goldman kept stretching. The Thing of It Is... (1967) explored intimacy and discontent, while his later novels would range from the beloved fantasy The Princess Bride (1973) to the harrowing conspiracy thriller Marathon Man (1974) and the psychological chiller Magic (1976). He had a rare ability to move between genres without losing his voice: economical, witty, and geared to the pulse of a scene.

Breakthrough in Screenwriting
Goldmans long career in Hollywood began in earnest with Harper (1966), a sharp, modern adaptation of a detective novel that gave Paul Newman one of his definitive roles. His breakthrough was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), an original screenplay that blended frontier myth, buoyant comedy, and melancholy. Directed by George Roy Hill and starring Newman and Robert Redford, the film became a landmark of American cinema. Goldmans script, at once classical and slyly contemporary, won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and became a model for how to write an adventure with character at its core.

He followed with a remarkable run. The Hot Rock (1972) showcased his comic touch; The Stepford Wives (1975) revealed a satiric edge; and Marathon Man (1976), adapted from his own novel and starring Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier, delivered one of the most chilling sequences in thriller history. All the President's Men (1976), adapted from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernsteins book and directed by Alan J. Pakula, won Goldman his second Academy Award, this time for Best Adapted Screenplay. Once again Robert Redford was central to the project, and the film became a definitive portrait of investigative journalism and political responsibility.

The Princess Bride and Popular Culture
If any single story captured Goldmans breadth, it was The Princess Bride. First a novel he wrote as a fairy tale for his daughters, then a 1987 film directed by Rob Reiner from Goldmans own screenplay, it married romance, adventure, satire, and a consciously playful narrative frame. Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, and Mandy Patinkin anchored the film, and Goldmans writing supplied lines that entered popular culture. The movie grew from modest box-office results into a multigenerational classic, proof of his belief that strong stories find their audience over time. Goldmans collaboration with Reiner continued on Misery (1990), his adaptation of Stephen Kings novel, which earned Kathy Bates an Academy Award and offered a master class in contained, character-driven suspense.

Nonfiction and the Craft of Writing
Goldman was also a celebrated nonfiction writer. The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway offered a clear-eyed, deeply researched, and often funny panorama of a single Broadway season, and remains required reading for students of the theater. Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983) and its sequel Which Lie Did I Tell? (2000) became essential texts for screenwriters. In them Goldman combined anecdote, practical advice, and refreshingly blunt conclusions about the movie business, most famously his dictum, Nobody knows anything. The books documented working relationships with directors such as George Roy Hill and Alan J. Pakula, with actors like Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Dustin Hoffman, and with producers and executives who shaped studio decisions. They also illuminated his lesser-known work as a script doctor, the uncredited craft of rewriting or polishing screenplays to make scenes play cleaner and stories cohere.

Later Film Work
Goldman continued to write widely into the 1990s and 2000s. He scripted A Bridge Too Far (1977), weaving a complex ensemble narrative; Magic (1978), adapted from his novel and starring Anthony Hopkins; the caper Maverick (1994), which nodded to classic television while updating its rhythms; The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), a period adventure; and Absolute Power (1997), a thriller directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. He remained drawn to Stephen King material, adapting Hearts in Atlantis (2001) and co-writing Dreamcatcher (2003). Even when the films met mixed receptions, Goldmans dialogue, structure, and sense of pacing were consistently praised by those who worked with him.

Family and Personal Life
Family mattered to Goldman, and not only in the dedications and framing stories of his books. He married Ilene Jones in 1961, and they had two daughters, Jenny and Susanna. The marriage ended in divorce decades later, but the experiences of parenthood and family storytelling left a lasting mark on his work, especially The Princess Bride, with its playful notion of an abridgement presented for a young listener. His relationship with his brother James remained enduring and productive; they influenced each other as fellow craftsmen, navigated Broadway when both were rising, and maintained a sibling conversation about what makes drama work.

Style, Themes, and Working Methods
Goldmans prose and screenwriting combined economy with warmth and a disarming sense of humor. He favored clear stakes, crisp scenes, and endings that acknowledged the costs of adventure as well as its pleasures. He admired professionalism and distrusted cant, and his nonfiction often demystified the machinery of theater and film while honoring the artisans who keep that machinery running. Collaborators across decades, from Rob Reiner to actors like Newman, Redford, and Hoffman, noted his precision and his ear for speech that sounds natural yet is meticulously constructed. In Hollywood he became a go-to fixer because he could identify the essential spine of a story and cut away what did not serve it.

Recognition and Legacy
Two Academy Awards placed Goldman among the most honored screenwriters of his era, but his influence reached further than prizes. He helped define the American revisionist western with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, shaped the modern political thriller with All the President's Men, and set a gold standard for fantasy adventure with The Princess Bride. On the page he left a shelf of novels that continue to be read and adapted, and a trio of nonfiction works that have guided generations of writers. The quote Nobody knows anything, repeated endlessly in film schools and production offices, captures both his skepticism about forecasting hits and his humility before audiences.

Final Years
Goldman remained active as a writer well into later life, publishing essays, revisiting past work, and advising on film projects. He died in New York City on November 16, 2018, from complications of colon cancer and pneumonia. He was 87. Tributes arrived from colleagues across theater and film: Rob Reiner credited him with shaping some of the most enduring lines and scenes of his career; Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford recalled a collaborator who gave actors room to find truth on screen; and writers saluted a mentor they knew through the candor and generosity of his books. For family, friends, and readers, William Goldman left something rarer than a list of credits: a body of stories that continue to surprise, comfort, and delight, anchored by a craftsman's respect for the audience and a lifelong commitment to the hard work behind every seemingly effortless scene.

Our collection contains 13 quotes who is written by William, under the main topics: Truth - Writing - Life - Mortality - Honesty & Integrity.