Alvin Sargent


Alvin Sargent was an American screenwriter. He won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Julia and Ordinary People. Sargent's other works include screenplays of the films The Sterile Cuckoo, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Paper Moon, Nuts, White Palace, What About Bob?, Unfaithful, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Early life

Alvin Sargent was born Alvin Supowitz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Esther and Isaac Supowitz. He was of Russian Jewish descent. Sargent attended Upper Darby High School, leaving aged 17 to join the Navy. As of 2006, he was one of 35 alumni to be on the school's Wall of Fame.

Career

Sargent began writing for television in 1953. Through the 1960s he scripted episodes for Route 66, Ben Casey and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. His first film screenplay was Gambit, written with Jack Davies. He gained recognition for I Walk the Line and Paper Moon. For his work on the latter, he won the WGA Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and was nominated for an Academy Award. He won the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay in 1978 for the film Julia, and again in 1981 for Ordinary People. Near the end of his career, he collaborated on the screenplays for three Spider-Man films: Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Personal life

He had a longtime relationship with producer Laura Ziskin; they were married from 2010 until her death in 2011. His brother was writer and producer Herb Sargent.

Death

Sargent died from natural causes in Seattle on May 9, 2019, four weeks after his 92nd birthday.

Filmography

Writer

Actor