Bo Goldman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Goldman in 1975 | |
| Born | Robert Spencer Goldman (1932-09-10)September 10, 1932 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 25, 2023(2023-07-25) (aged 90) Helendale, California, U.S. |
| Education | Princeton University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1958–2016 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
Bo Goldman (bornRobert Spencer Goldman; September 10, 1932 – July 25, 2023) was an American screenwriter and playwright. He received numerous accolades, including twoAcademy Awards, twoGolden Globe Awards, and twoWriters Guild of America Awards, as well as theLifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He also received twoBAFTA Award nominations.
Goldman received twoAcademy Awards for his screenplays ofOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) andMelvin and Howard (1980). He also wroteThe Rose (1979),Shoot the Moon (1982),Scent of a Woman (1992), andMeet Joe Black (1998).
Robert Spencer Goldman was born in 1932 to a Jewish family in New York City.[1][2] He was the son of Lillian (Levy), a hat model, and Julian Goldman.[2] Goldman's father was aBroadway producer, and owned a chain of well-known eastern department stores called the Goldman Stores, and as an early pioneer of "time payments", his business thrived, though the family struggled amid theGreat Depression.[2]The New York Times wrote that Goldman's upbringing was "strangely hand-to-mouth in a 12-room apartment onPark Avenue".[1]
Eleanor Roosevelt admired the work of Helen Parkhurst, and was in the midst of expanding the population and resources of theDalton School by promoting a merger between the Todhunter School for girls (founded byWinifred Todhunter). Julian Goldman became an early backer, and this school was where Bo began his education. He followed this by skipping his last year at Dalton in favor of fast-tracking throughPhillips Exeter Academy, an experience that informed a script he would write years later,Scent of a Woman.[3]
Goldman attendedPrinceton University, where he wrote, produced, and composed lyrics for, and was president of, the famedPrinceton Triangle Club, a proving ground forF. Scott Fitzgerald,James Stewart, and directorJoshua Logan.[2] His 1953 production,Ham 'n Legs, was presented onThe Ed Sullivan Show – the first Triangle production ever to appear on national television. In his early years, he went by the nickname Bob, but when writing forThe Daily Princetonian, his first name was misprinted in one article as "Bo". He adopted it as his pen name and later legally changed his name.[2]
Goldman is not related to prestigious screenwriterWilliam Goldman, who, like Bo, also won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Upon graduation from Princeton, Goldman had a three-year stint in theU.S. Army stationed as personnelsergeant[4] onEnewetak, anatoll in theMarshall Islands of the central Pacific Ocean used fornuclear bomb testing.[2]
After leaving the service, Goldman found work onBroadway as the lyricist forFirst Impressions (1959), a musical based onJane Austen'sPride and Prejudice.[2] Produced by composerJule Styne, directed byAbe Burrows, and starringHermione Gingold,Polly Bergen, andFarley Granger, the play received decent reviews, but closed after a brief, 92-show run.[2] He would spend the next few years unsuccessfully trying to get his second show,Hurrah Boys Hurrah, produced.
Now married, and with four small children at home, he soon found a steady income working in the new world of live television atCBS.[5] Goldman was mentored byFred 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 prestigiousPlayhouse 90's,Days of Wine and Roses directed by a youngJohn Frankenheimer,The Plot to Kill Stalin starringEli Wallach, andHorton Foote'sOld Man. Goldman went on to produce and write for public television on the award-winning NET Playhouse. After working together at NET,Burt Lancaster encouraged Goldman to try his hand at screenwriting, which resulted in an early version ofShoot the Moon. The script became Goldman's calling card, and he was soon "known for some of the best screenplays of the 1970s and '80s".[6]
After readingShoot the Moon,Miloš Forman asked Goldman to write the screenplay forOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[2] The film won all five topAcademy Awards, including forBest Adapted Screenplay for Goldman. This was the first film to win the top five awards sinceFrank Capra'sIt Happened One Night in 1934.[7] For his work on the film Goldman also received theWriters Guild Award and theGolden Globe Award.[8][9]
Goldman next wroteThe Rose (1979), which was nominated for four Academy Awards. This was followed by his original screenplayMelvin and Howard (1980), which garnered Goldman his second Academy Award, second Writers Guild Award, and theNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Screenplay of the Year.[2] Goldman's calling card,Shoot the Moon, was then filmed byAlan Parker and starredDiane Keaton andAlbert Finney. The film received international acclaim and was embraced by some of America's most respected film critics. However, due to a previous agreementWarren Beatty had negotiated withMGM, the studio was bound that no film could be released with Diane Keaton in the same year as Beatty'sReds.[10] Consequently,Shoot the Moon released with little or no fanfare the following February – long after the fourth quarter "awards season."[11] Nonetheless, Goldman's peers remembered, and the following year, he earned his third Writers Guild Award nomination.[9]
Shoot the Moon received international acclaim and was embraced by America's most respected film critics withPauline Kael ofThe New Yorker writing,"Shoot the Moon is perhaps the most revealing American movie of the era."[12]David Denby –New York Magazine added "The picture seems like a miracle. A beautiful achievement."[13]David Edelstein –The New York Post wrote "One of the best films of the decade."[14]
"The great Bo Goldman. He's the pre-eminent screenwriter – in my mind as good as it gets."[15]
. For the next few years, Goldman contributed uncredited work to many scripts, including Miloš Forman'sRagtime (1981) starringJames Cagney andDonald O'Connor,The Flamingo Kid (1984) starringMatt Dillon, andWarren Beatty'sDick Tracy (1990).[8]
Goldman followed this withScent of a Woman (1992), receiving his second Golden Globe Award and third Academy Award nomination.[2] In the film,Al Pacino plays Frank Slade, a blind, retired army colonel—a character Goldman said he based on someone he "knew from his days in the army."[5] After being nominated seven times for roles as varied asMichael Corleone inFrancis Ford Coppola'sThe Godfather andFrank Serpico inSidney Lumet'sSerpico, his portrayal of Frank Slade finally earned him theAcademy Award for Best Actor. The film was beloved by critics, who along with Pacino's performance, singled out Goldman's screenplay:
Janet Maslin –The New York Times wrote "Mr. Pacino roars through this story with show-stopping intensity. Bo Goldman's screenplay provides him with a string of indelible wisecracks. Mr. Pacino's contribution, in the sort of role for which Oscar nominations were made, is to remind viewers that a great American actor is too seldom on the screen."[16]Roger Ebert –Chicago Sun-Times declared, "The screenplay is by Bo Goldman (Melvin and Howard), who is more interested in the people than the plot. By the end of "Scent of a Woman," we have arrived at the usual conclusion of the coming-of-age movie, and the usual conclusion of the prep school movie. But rarely have we been taken there with so much intelligence and skill."[17] The film has an 88% score on the critic siteRotten Tomatoes. Next up wasHarold Becker'sCity Hall (1996) again starringAl Pacino and alsoJohn Cusack. Pacino played the corruptMayor of New York City. The film is peppered with musical theatre references, an homage to Goldman's father and his own Broadway days.[2]
After this wasMeet Joe Black (1998) starringBrad Pitt andAnthony Hopkins.[2] Critics gave the film mixed reviews. Pitt and the director,Martin Brest, took the biggest thumping. The main complaint centered not on content, but pace.Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times wrote, "WhereMeet Joe Black runs into most of its trouble is that everything happens so terribly slowly. Martin Brest has felt the need to inflate the tale until it floats around like one of those ungainly balloons inMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Not helping the time go faster is the way star Brad Pitt has ended up playing Death. Ordinarily the most charismatic of actors, with an eye-candy smile and a winning ease, Pitt approaches this role largely on a leash, hanging around more like the protagonist ofI Walked with a Zombie than a flesh-and-blood leading man."[18]
Goldman did a rewrite ofThe Perfect Storm in 2000. The film went on to earn $329,000,000.[19]
In a 1998 interview withThe New York Times, screenwriterEric Roth said, "The great Bo Goldman. He's the pre-eminent screenwriter – in my mind as good as it gets. He has the most varied and intelligent credits, fromCuckoo's Nest toShoot the Moon, the best divorce movie ever made, toScent of a Woman, to the great satireMelvin and Howard. He rarely makes mistakes, and he manages to maintain a distinctive American voice. And he manages to stay timely."[15]
Roth once again expressed his admiration for Goldman in an October 2017New York Magazine article titled "The 100 Best Screenwriters of All Time". Here, Roth writes, "The man whose work made the biggest impression on me, because of his audacious originality, his understanding of social mores, his ironic sense of humor, and his outright anger at being human, and all with his soft spoken grace and eloquent simplicity is Bo Goldman. This degenerate horse player of a man lived his life like he lived his politics, never shying from a fight. His words were silk, never wasted or misplaced, and he would throw away what others would consider glorious and did it all without a moment’s fanfare.”[20]
Goldman married Mabel "Mab" Ashforth in 1954, and they remained married until her death in 2017.[2] They spent their later years inRockport, Maine, with their daughter, Serena, and son-in-law, filmmakerTodd Field.[2][21] In April 2023, Goldman moved toHelendale, California, to live with his son Justin, until his death three months later on July 25, 2023, at the age of 90.[2][22]
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | The Philco Television Playhouse | No | Associate | [19] | |
| 1956–1959 | Playhouse 90 | Yes | Associate | [8] | |
| 1957 | The Seven Lively Arts | No | Yes | [19] | |
| 1961 | ABC Close-Up! | No | Yes | 1 Episode | [citation needed] |
| 1961–1962 | Theatre '62 | Yes | No | 2 Episodes | [8] |
| 1962 | The Paradine Case | Yes | No | TV movie | [23] |
| 1963 | NBC Children's Theatre | Yes | No | 1 Episode | [citation needed] |
| 1964 | The Defenders | Yes | No | 1 Episode | [19] |
| 1974 | Great Performances | No | Yes | 2 Episodes |
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Miloš Forman | Co-written withLawrence Hauben | [24] |
| 1979 | The Rose | Mark Rydell | Co-written withMichael Cimino | |
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Jonathan Demme | [8] | |
| 1982 | Shoot the Moon | Alan Parker | [8] | |
| 1988 | Little Nikita | Richard Benjamin | Co-written withJohn Hill | |
| 1992 | Scent of a Woman | Martin Brest | [24] | |
| 1996 | City Hall | Harold Becker | Co-written withKen Lipper,Paul Schrader, andNicholas Pileggi | |
| 1998 | Meet Joe Black | Martin Brest | Co-written with Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, andKevin Wade | |
| 2016 | Rules Don't Apply | Warren Beatty | Story only | [8] |
Soundtrack
| Year | Title | Lyrics | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | When the Legends Die | "When You Speak to the Kids" "The Riderless Wagon" "Summer Storm" | [25] |
Uncredited script revision
| Year | Title | Description | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Cry Havoc | An adaptation of the novel forMGM | [27] |
| 1974 | Kid Shelleen | Script for a sequel toCat Ballou | [27] |
| 1975 | The Legend of King Kong | UnusedKing Kong remake script forUniversal Pictures | [8][28] |
| Bottled Lightning | To have been directed byHerbert Ross | [27] | |
| 1978 | A Chorus Line | An adaptation ofthe musical to have been directed byMike Nichols | [29] |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Unused early draft | [8] |
| 1980 | Black Sands | To have been directed byBruno Barreto | [30] |
| The Four Hundred | An adaptation of the novel | [27] | |
| 1982 | Final Payments | An adaptation of the novel to have starredDiane Keaton | [31][27] |
| The Old Neighborhood | An adaptation of the novel Wrote with the intention of directing | [31][27] | |
| 1984 | The Anita Factor | Script forMGM/UA andColumbia Pictures | [27] |
| 1985 | Me for You | Script forParamount Pictures | [27] |
| 1989 | Monkeys | An adaptation ofthe novel to have starredKevin Kline andDiane Keaton Wrote with the intention of directing | [32][27] |
| Time Steps | Script forPenny Marshall, based on her mother | [33][34][27] | |
| 1991 | The Truth | An adaptation ofThe Day America Told the Truth forImagine Films | [27] |
| 1992 | Shouter | Script byJames Andrew Miller, described as a "contemporaryThird Man" about aCIA agent Intention of directing | [35][27] |
| 1993 | Underground | To have been directed byTodd Field | [27] |
| 1995 | Wild Strawberries | A remake of the1957 film to have starredGregory Peck Wrote with the intention of directing | [36][37][27] |
| 1998 | Imagining Nathan | Uncredited script revision forUniversal Pictures | [27][38] |
| 2001 | Rebel Raider | Script forParamount Pictures | [27] |
| 2003 | The Colonel and Me | Script forBarry Levinson about a youngJerry Weintraub's relationship with Col.Tom Parker | [39][27] |
| 2006 | Rififi | Script for a remake of the1955 French film to have starredAl Pacino | [40][27] |
| Every Time We Say Goodbye | Wrote with the intention of directing | [27] | |
| — | Sonny | Script about the younger life ofHoward Hughes | [19] |
| — | Love Me or Leave Me | Script for a remake of the1955 musical film to have starredAl Pacino | [27] |
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Won | [9] |
| 1980 | Best Original Screenplay | Melvin and Howard | Won | |
| 1992 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Scent of a Woman | Nominated |
BAFTA Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Best Screenplay | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Nominated |
| 1992 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Scent of a Woman | Nominated |
Golden Globe Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Best Screenplay | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Won |
| 1992 | Scent of a Woman | Won |
Writers Guild of America
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Won |
| 1980 | Best Original Screenplay | Melvin and Howard | Won |
| 1982 | Shoot the Moon | Nominated | |
| 1992 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Scent of a Woman | Nominated |
| 1998 | Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement | Won | |
Other awards
| Year | Association | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Screenplay | Melvin and Howard | Won | [41] |
| National Society of Film Critics | Best Screenplay | Won | [42] | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle | Best Screenplay | Won | [9] |
