Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent
Born	Alvin Supowitz (1927-04-12)April 12, 1927 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 9, 2019(2019-05-09) (aged 92) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter
Years active	1956–2012
Spouses	Joan Camden ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1975)​ Laura Ziskin ​ ​ (m. 2010; died 2011)​
Relatives	Herb Sargent (brother) Alvin York (cousin)

Alvin Sargent (April 12, 1927 – May 9, 2019) was an American screenwriter. He won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Julia (1977), and Ordinary People (1980). Sargent's other works include screenplays of the films The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1970), Paper Moon (1973), Nuts (1987), White Palace (1990), What About Bob? (1991), Unfaithful (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

Early life

Alvin Sargent was born Alvin Supowitz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Esther (née Kadansky) 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 and through the 1960s he scripted episodes for Route 66, Ben Casey and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He collaborated on his first screenplay for a film on Gambit (1966) and gained recognition for I Walk the Line (1970) and Paper Moon (1973) for which 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 (1977) and again in 1981 for Ordinary People (1980). He collaborated on the 2004 screenplay for Spider-Man 2 and the 2007 screenplay for Spider-Man 3. He'd also collaborate on the screenplay for the 2012 reboot 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 at his home in Seattle on May 9, 2019, four weeks after his 92nd birthday.

Filmography

Writer

Year	Title	Notes
1966	Gambit	Co-written with Jack Davies.
1968	The Stalking Moon	Co-written with Wendell Mayes.
1969	The Sterile Cuckoo
1970	I Walk the Line
1972	The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
1973	Paper Moon
	Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
1977	Julia
	Bobby Deerfield
1978	Straight Time	Co-written with Jeffrey Boam.
1980	Ordinary People
1987	Nuts	Co-written with Tom Topor and Daryl Ponicsan.
1988	Dominick and Eugene
1990	White Palace	Co-written with Ted Tally.
1991	Other People's Money
	What About Bob?	Story only; co-written by Laura Ziskin.
1992	Hero	Story only; co-written by Laura Ziskin and David Webb Peoples.
1996	Bogus
1999	Anywhere but Here
2002	Unfaithful	Co-written with William Broyles Jr.
	Spider-Man	Uncredited.
2004	Spider-Man 2
2007	Spider-Man 3	Co-written with Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi.
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Co-written with James Vanderbilt and Steve Kloves.

Actor

• From Here to Eternity (1953) - Nair (uncredited)

External links

• Alvin Sargent at IMDb