Bo Goldman
About
Biography
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Biography
Born one of five children to a wealthy retail magnate who lost his fortune in the Great Depression, Goldman served in the Army for several years after graduating from Princeton. He worked as an associate producer on "Playhouse 90" for CBS from 1958 to 1960 and also wrote the lyrics for a Broadway show, "First Impressions" (1959), based on Jane Austen's classic "Pride and Prejudice." Despite some subsequent work on TV, his career stalled as his decade of labor on a planned stage musical about the Civil War never came to fruition.
Goldman kept up his ties with theater and TV with several seasons of work for PBS, producing several plays for "Theater in America." He wrote the screenplay for the film "Shoot the Moon" (which would not be produced until a decade later) and director Milos Forman, impressed with Goldman's work, suggested that he try his hand at adapting Ken Kesey's novel and Dale Wasserman's stage version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Goldman was only paid $8000 for his collaboration with Lawrence Hauben, but his resulting acclaim and Oscar win jumpstarted his writing career.
Goldman has not been a prolific screenwriter, but his best efforts have proven both popular and likably offbeat. He often presents highly individualistic characters cast into a vortex of pain, while surrounding them with cartoonishly flamboyant, darkly comical settings. Bette Midler vaulted to film stardom in the juicy lead role of "The Rose" (1979), and Goldman won a second Oscar, this time for original screenplay, for his cult film portrait of an "ordinary joe" whose life is changed by a chance meeting, "Melvin and Howard" (1980). The death of a son in 1981 kept him away from writing for a time, and the 80s were a leaner period with the lesser "Swing Shift" (1984) and "Little Nikita" (1988). Goldman again garnered popular acclaim, if a split verdict from critics, with his sentimental but splashy showcase for Al Pacino, "Scent of a Woman" (1992), and the two reteamed for the elaborate political machinations of "City Hall" (1996).
Filmography
Writer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Producer (Special)
Life Events
1954
Served in the US Army; achieved the rank of sergeant
1959
Wrote the lyrics (with Glen Paxton) for "First Impressions," a Broadway musical based on Jane Austen's classic novel, "Pride and Prejudice"
1972
Wrote a song for the feature film, "When the Legends Die"
1972
Wrote the screenplay for "Shoot the Moon", which was not filmed until nearly a decade later
1974
Moved out to Hollywood (date approximate)
1975
First screenplays, "End of the Game" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; won the Academy Award for the latter
1980
Picked up second Oscar for script for "Melvin and Howard"
1981
Career interrupted after the death of his son Jesse
1990
Served as a special consultant for Warren Beatty's feature film, "Dick Tracy"
1992
Received third Oscar nomination for work on screenplay for "Scent of a Woman", starring Al Pacino
1996
Contributed to the screenplay for the Pacino vehicle "City Hall"
1998
Received screenwriting credit on "Meet Joe Black", a loose remake of "Death Takes a Holiday"
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