Eric Roth

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Eric Roth
Born (1945-03-22) March 22, 1945 (age 79)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
OccupationScreenwriter
Years active1970–present
Notable workForrest Gump
Munich
The Good Shepherd
The Insider
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dune
Killers of the Flower Moon
SpouseAnne L. Peters[1]
Children5, including Vanessa
AwardsOscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump (1994)
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (2012)

Eric R. Roth (born March 22, 1945) is an American screenwriter. He has been nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay — for Forrest Gump (1994), The Insider (1999), Munich (2005), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), A Star Is Born (2018), and Dune (2021) — winning for Forrest Gump; he also earned a Best Picture nomination for producing Mank (2020). He also worked on the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated films Ali (2001) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), as well as Martin Scorsese's epic Western crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Early life and education[edit]

Roth was born in New York City, New York, into a Jewish family, the son of Miriam "Mimi", a teacher, studio executive, and radio writer, and Leon Roth, a university teacher and film producer.[2][3] He grew up in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in New York.[4] He grew up boxing and would credit some of his later successes to habits learned from the sport.[4]

Roth went to college at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1966.[5] He later attended UCLA Film School as part of the class of 1973.

Career[edit]

Roth won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump. He is known for writing his scripts in a DOS program without Internet access, as well as distributing the scripts only in hard copy formats.[3][6][7] He followed his Academy Award win by co-writing screenplays for several Oscar-nominated films, including The Insider, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and A Star Is Born. While writing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, he lost both of his parents, and as a result views the film as "my most personal movie."[4][8][9]

Personal life[edit]

Roth lives in Santa Monica, California.[10] He has five children, including documentary filmmaker Vanessa Roth, and filmmakers Geoffrey Roth and Alec Roth; and six grandchildren.

Roth was one of the investors defrauded by Bernard Madoff in a Ponzi Scheme via Stanley Chais.[11][12] He stated that his losses were heavy and he has lost his retirement money, although the full extent is unknown. As a result of the fraud and the associated losses, Roth sued the estate of Chais, who died on September 26, 2010.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

As writer

Year Title Director Notes
1970 To Catch a Pebble James F. Collier
1974 The Nickel Ride Robert Mulligan
1975 The Drowning Pool Stuart Rosenberg Uncredited
1979 The Onion Field Harold Becker
The Concorde ... Airport '79 David Lowell Rich
1981 Wolfen Michael Wadleigh Uncredited
1987 Suspect Peter Yates
1988 Memories of Me Henry Winkler with Billy Crystal
1993 Mr. Jones Mike Figgis with Michael Cristofer
1994 Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis
1997 The Postman Kevin Costner with Brian Helgeland
1998 The Horse Whisperer Robert Redford with Richard LaGravenese
1999 The Insider Michael Mann with Mann
2001 Ali with Mann, Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson
2005 Munich Steven Spielberg with Tony Kushner
2006 The Good Shepherd Robert De Niro
2007 Lucky You Curtis Hanson with Hanson
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button David Fincher
2011 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Stephen Daldry
2015 Ellis JR Short film
2018 A Star Is Born Bradley Cooper with Cooper and Will Fetters
2021 Dune Denis Villeneuve with Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts
2023 Killers of the Flower Moon Martin Scorsese with Scorsese
2024 Here Robert Zemeckis with Zemeckis

As producer

Year Title Director
2020 Mank David Fincher

Television[edit]

Year Title Writer Executive
Producer
Notes
1972 The Strangers in 7A Yes No TV movie
1992 The Heights Yes No Co-creator
1994 Jane's House Yes No TV movie
2011–2012 Luck Yes Yes
2013–2017 House of Cards No Yes
2016–2018 Berlin Station No Yes
2018 The Alienist No Yes
2020 The Alienist: Angel of Darkness No Yes
TBA Before No Yes Upcoming series

Accolades[edit]

Academy Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
1995 Forrest Gump Best Adapted Screenplay Won
2000 The Insider Nominated
2006 Munich Nominated
2009 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nominated
2019 A Star Is Born Nominated
2021 Mank Best Picture Nominated
2022 Dune Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated

British Academy Film Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
1995 Forrest Gump Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nominated
2018 A Star Is Born Nominated
2021 Dune Nominated

Critics' Choice Movie Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
2009 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Writer Nominated
2012 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2019 A Star Is Born Nominated
2022 Dune Nominated
2024 Killers of the Flower Moon Nominated

Golden Globe Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
1995 Forrest Gump Best Screenplay - Motion Picture Nominated
2000 The Insider Nominated
2006 Munich Nominated
2009 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nominated
2024 Killers of the Flower Moon Nominated

Primetime Emmy Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
2013 House of Cards Outstanding Drama Series Nominated
2014 Nominated
2015 Nominated
2016 Nominated
2017 Nominated
2018 The Alienist Outstanding Limited Series Nominated

Producers Guild of America Award[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
2014 House of Cards Best Episodic Drama Nominated
2015 Nominated
2016 Nominated
2017 Nominated

Satellite Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Screenplay - Adapted Nominated
2019 A Star Is Born Nominated
2022 Dune Nominated
2024 Killers of the Flower Moon Nominated

Writers Guild of America Awards[edit]

Year Nominated work Category Result
1995 Forrest Gump Best Adapted Screenplay Won
2000 The Insider Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Paul Selvin Award Won
2009 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2012 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement Won
2019 A Star Is Born Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2022 Dune Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2024 Killers of the Flower Moon Best Adapted Screenplay Pending

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fleishman, Jeffrey (October 19, 2023). "Screenwriter Eric Roth on 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and a life of big scripts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Profile: Eric Roth", filmreference.com
  3. ^ a b Pfefferman, Naomi (January 26, 2012). "Writer's Guild to Honor 'Extremely' Talented Screenwriter Eric Roth". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Los Angeles. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Tallal, Jimy (April 11, 2015). "Salon Series Continues with Screenwriter Eric Roth". The Malibu Times. Malibu, California. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  5. ^ Hildebrand, Romy (February 4, 2022). "DUNE: A NEW FRONTIER FOR SCREENWRITER ERIC ROTH". hfa.ucsb.edu. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (September 22, 2014). "Did You Know: 'Forrest Gump' Screenwriter Eric Roth Uses A DOS Program To Write Scripts". HitFix. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  7. ^ Renée, V (September 24, 2014). "Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Eric Roth Takes You on a Tour of His Writing Process". No Film School. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  8. ^ Yamato, Jen (December 22, 2008). "RT INTERVIEW: ERIC ROTH CALLS BENJAMIN BUTTON HIS MOST PERSONAL FILM TO DATE". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  9. ^ "Interview: Benjamin Button Writer Eric Roth". GamesRadar. January 28, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  10. ^ McClain, James (August 23, 2019). "'A Star Is Born' Writer Eric Roth Settles in Santa Monica". Variety.
  11. ^ Reckard, E. Scott; Abramowitz, Rachel; Eller, Claudia (December 17, 2008). "Hollywood figures snared in Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud". LA Times.
  12. ^ Standora, Leo (May 2, 2009). "Los Angeles investment manager Stanley Chais sued for funneling cash to Bernie Madoff fund". Daily News. New York.

External links[edit]