Bo Goldman: Biography

An Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Bo Goldman is best-known for writing scripts about troubled people in emotionally demanding situations. Born in New York on September 10, 1932, Goldman received his college education at Princeton. He had his first musical, First Impressions, produced when he was in his mid-20s. He subsequently worked on a number of television shows while attempting to stage another musical, enduring years of career disappointments.

Goldman's luck began to change when he wrote his first screenplay, Shoot the Moon. Although the script didn't sell, it did spark Hollywood interest, and Goldman was hired by director Milos Forman to write the screenplay for One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). The film won a number of Oscars, including one for Goldman's screenplay.

After co-writing the Bette Midler drama The Rose (1979), Goldman won another Oscar for his original screenplay for Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard (1980). In 1981, Shoot the Moon was finally produced, but despite its success, Goldman spent much of the decade's remainder working as an uncredited script doctor on such films as The Flamingo Kid and Swing Shift (both 1984).

Goldman's next solo screenplay credit -- and Oscar nomination -- came with his script for the highly praised Scent of a Woman (1992). He continued to work throughout the '90s on such films as City Hall (1996) and Meet Joe Black (1998), and in 2000, he co-wrote the screenplay for Wolfgang Peterson's adventure drama The Perfect Storm. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide