William Goldman | Author

About the Author

William Goldman was born in Highland Park, Illinois on August 12, 1931. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University. He began his writing career in 1957 and wrote his first screenplay Masquerade in 1965. During his lifetime, he show more wrote more than 20 screenplays and over 20 novels. He wrote the screenplays for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, The Stepford Wives, and Chaplin. He adapted three screenplays from his own novels including The Princess Bride, Marathon Man, and Heat. His other novels included The Temple of Gold, No Way to Treat a Lady, Adventures in the Screen Trade, Hype and Glory, and Which Lie Did I Tell. He sometimes wrote under pseudonyms during his career including S. Morgenstern and Harry Langlaugh. He won three Lifetime Achievement Awards for Screenwriting, including the 1985 Laurel Award for Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriter. He won two Screenwriter of the Year Awards and two Academy Awards, one for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the other for All the President's Men. He also won an English Academy Award. He died from colon cancer and pneumonia on November 16, 2018 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Wiliam Goldman, William Goldman, Harry Longbaugh, William Goldman's, Simon Morgenstern, William and S. Morgenstern Goldman, S.; Abridged By William Goldman Morgenstern, FORMER OWNER Abridged By William Goldman Goldman, Illustrated by P S. (William Goldman) Morgenstern, S. (aka William Goldman ); illustr by Paul Giovano

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Series

Marathon Man

Adventures in the Screen Trade

Works by William Goldman

Popular Recent

The Princess Bride (1973) 25,402 copies, 535 reviews

The Princess Bride [1987 film] (1987) — Screenwriter — 2,117 copies, 14 reviews

Marathon Man (1974) 1,168 copies, 22 reviews

Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983) 1,069 copies, 15 reviews

The Princess Bride: An Illustrated Edition of S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (2013) — Author — 694 copies, 12 reviews

Which Lie Did I Tell? : More Adventures in the Screen Trade (2000) 676 copies, 3 reviews

The Silent Gondoliers (1983) 537 copies, 13 reviews

Magic (1976) — Author — 493 copies, 9 reviews

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969 film] (1969) — Screenwriter — 401 copies, 4 reviews

All the President's Men [1976 film] (1976) — Screenwriter — 263 copies, 5 reviews

Brothers (1986) 234 copies, 2 reviews

Boys & Girls Together (1964) 231 copies, 4 reviews

The Color of Light (1984) 195 copies, 1 review

Misery [1990 film] (1990) — Screenwriter — 190 copies, 3 reviews

The Temple of Gold (1957) 190 copies, 5 reviews

Tinsel (1979) 145 copies, 1 review

Control (1982) 143 copies, 1 review

The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway (1969) 130 copies, 4 reviews

Heat (1985) 125 copies

The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays (2000) 102 copies, 1 review

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Screenplay) (1969) 100 copies, 2 reviews

Hype and Glory (1990) 98 copies, 1 review

Marathon Man [1976 film] (1976) — Author — 90 copies, 2 reviews

William Goldman: Four Screenplays with Essays (2000) 85 copies

Soldier in the Rain (1960) 71 copies, 1 review

The Stepford Wives [1975 film] (1975) — Screenwriter — 69 copies, 1 review

Your Turn to Curtsy My Turn to Bow (1966) 69 copies, 1 review

The Thing of it is... (1969) 46 copies, 1 review

Wait Till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't, and What Could've Gone… (1988) 35 copies, 1 review

No Way To Treat A Lady (1964) 35 copies, 1 review

Father's Day (1970) 32 copies

William Goldman: Five Screenplays (Applause Screenplay) (2000) 25 copies, 2 reviews

Magic [1978 film] (1978) — Screenwriter — 20 copies, 1 review

Wigger (1974) 20 copies

The Great Waldo Pepper [1974 film] (1974) — Screenwriter — 18 copies

The Story of A Bridge Too Far (1977) 17 copies

The great Waldo Pepper (A Dell book) (1975) 13 copies

Absolute Power: The Screenplay (1997) 11 copies

The Ghost and the Darkness (Applause Screenplay Series) (2000) 10 copies

Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script) (2003) 7 copies

The novels of William Goldman : boys and girls together, marathon man, and the temple of gold. (2017) 5 copies

All the President's Men: The Screenplay 4 copies, 1 review

The Princess Bride Screenplay 3 copies

Year of the Comet [1992 film] (1992) — Screenwriter — 3 copies

Misery: Based on the Novel by Stephen King 2 copies

The Stepford Wives: The Screenplay 2 copies

Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979) 1 copy

International seminar on the history of the Atlantic world, 1500-1825 (working paper No.07-01) - The limit of empire :… 1 copy

Duel Scene [from the Princess Bride] 1 copy

Goigoi. Die Geschichte von Lea und ihrem liebsten Liebhabtuch (1985) 1 copy

Die Brautprinzessin : S. Morgensterns klassische ErzÃ¤hlung von wahrer Liebe und edlen Abenteuern ; die Ausgabe der… 1 copy

The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1 copy

Five Screenplays: With Essays 1 copy

True Love and High Adventure 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Right Stuff [1983 film] (1983) — Screenwriter — 338 copies, 2 reviews

A Bridge Too Far [1977 film] (1977) — Screenwriter — 300 copies, 1 review

Maverick [1994 film] (1994) — Screenwriter — 220 copies, 2 reviews

Dreamcatcher [2003 film] (2003) — Screenwriter — 161 copies, 1 review

Absolute Power [1997 film] (1997) — Screenwriter — 142 copies, 2 reviews

The General's Daughter [1999 film] (1999) — Screenwriter — 103 copies, 1 review

Hearts in Atlantis [2001 film] (2001) — Screenwriter — 94 copies

The Best of All Possible Worlds (1980) — Contributor — 81 copies, 2 reviews

Chaplin [1992 film] (1993) — Screenwriter — 79 copies, 1 review

Harper [1966 film] (1966) — Screenplay — 46 copies, 3 reviews

Michael Clayton: The Shooting Script (2007) — Foreword — 19 copies

Swords and Sorcerers: Stories from the Worlds of Fantasy and Adventure (2002) — Contributor — 17 copies

Inward Journey (1987) — Contributor — 11 copies

No Way to Treat a Lady [1968 film] (2002) — Original book — 6 copies, 2 reviews

New World Writing 17 (1960) — Contributor — 4 copies

The Princess Bride Booklet (Criterion Collection 948) — Contributor — 1 copy

4 Film Favorites Clint Eastwood Action — Writer — 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Goldman, William
Legal name: Goldman, William Weil
Other names: MORGENSTERN, Simon (pseudonym)
LONGBAUGH, Harry (pseudonym)
GOLDMAN, William W.
GOLDMAN, William
Birthdate: 1931-08-12
Date of death: 2018-11-16
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Place of death: New York, New York, USA
Cause of death: cancer (colon)
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Highland Park, Illinois. USA
Education: Oberlin College (BA|1952 - English)
Columbia University (MA|1956)
Occupations: playwright
novelist
screenwriter
Relationships: Goldman, James (brother)
Organizations: Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
Mystery Writers of America
US Army
Awards and honors: Academy Award for Best Screenplay (1969)
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (1976)
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (1985)
Edgar Award (1967 and 1979)

Members

Discussions

Joe's Book Cafe 2016 Door 18 in 75 Books Challenge for 2016 (August 2016)

A particular paperback edition of "Princess Bride" in Name that Book (July 2015)

Princess Bride question in Children's Fiction (February 2011)

Reviews

The Princess Bride (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by William Goldman

There's a lot to unpack here than what is shown in the movie. It is definitely a post-modern take on an adventure/love story/fairy tale. Its about ideals of love and life and how those don't often fit into reality. Much of the true nature of the story is told through the author's asides in the text, which offer glimpses into his personal life and what is happening (or not happening) there. I really enjoyed this mode of storytelling and would definitely read more Goldman books if they are crafted as interestingly as this one.… (more)

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quickmind | 534 other reviews | Sep 9, 2024 |

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

They should really make this into a movie...

Finally got around to reading the book after it had been on my list for years. I should have done it sooner.

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m.j.g. | 534 other reviews | Sep 2, 2024 |

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale… by William Goldman

An excellent example of meta-fiction. The story itself is of course funny and heartfelt and amazing, but despite what many reviewers below seem to think, the asides and introduction and notes are an important part of the overall story. The Princess Bride is both the adventure story of Westley and Buttercup as well as William Goldman's metafiction about Florin being a real place, this being a real book he's abridging, his stories about his memories of his father and his interactions with other people in the hollywood industry and with his family. It's hard to tell what's reality and what's fiction, but how he felt about it is genuine.

Feels like the author put all of himself into this story as well as the story, in other words.

Did I mention this book is hilarious? It is. There's a reason the movie turned out so well (other than Goldman being primarily a screenwriter).… (more)

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