Screenwriter
Melissa Mathison
A brilliant and passionate screenwriter, Melissa Mathison crafts iconic stories that capture the wonder of childhood and the longing for freedom—while fighting for justice both on and off the screen.
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Also:
- Writer
- Producer
Known for
Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's catalogued credits.
Biography
Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She was best known for writing the screenplays for the films The Black Stallion (1979) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the latter of which earned her the Saturn Award for Best Writing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Mathison later wrote The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), based on Lynne Reid Banks's 1980 children's novel of the same name, and Kundun (1997), a biographical-drama film about the Dalai Lama. Her final film credit was The BFG (2016), which marked her third collaboration with film director Steven Spielberg.
Filmography · 9 of 9
Writer
7 credits
Actor
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