Alice Arlen (November 6, 1940 – February 29, 2016) was an American screenwriter, best known for ''

Silkwood ''Silkwood'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was adapted from the book ''Who Killed Karen Silkwood?'' by ''Rollin ...

'' (1983), which she wrote with

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award f ...

. Her other film credits include the scripts of ''

Alamo Bay ''Alamo Bay'' is a 1985 American drama film about a Vietnam veteran who clashes with Vietnamese immigrants who move to his Texas bay hometown. The film was directed by Louis Malle, and stars Amy Madigan and Ed Harris. Future Texas A&M and Dallas ...

'' (1985), ''

Cookie A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, n ...

'' (1989), ''

The Weight of Water ''The Weight of Water'' is a 1997 bestselling novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction based on the Smuttynose Island murders, which took place in 1873. The book was adapted for a film of the same name, directed by Kathryn ...

'' (2000) and ''

Then She Found Me ''Then She Found Me'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Helen Hunt. The screenplay by Hunt, Alice Arlen, and Victor Levin is very loosely based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman. The film marked Hunt's feature film ...

'' (2007).

Early life

In 1940, Arlen was born as Alice Reeve. Arlen's father was Jay Frederick Reeve, a lawyer. Arlen's mother was Josephine Medill Patterson, a journalist. After Arlen's mother married

Ivan Albright Ivan Le Lorraine Albright (February 20, 1897 – November 18, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and print-maker most renowned for his self-portraits, character studies, and still lifes. Due to his technique and dark subject matter, he is of ...

, Arlen and her brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

took the surname of Albright.

Education

In 1962, Arlene graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 1981, Arlene earned an MFA degree from the

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts, (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, ...

Career

Arlen worked for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

. Arlen met

, with whom she wrote the screenplay for ''

'' (1983), for which they were nominated for an Oscar for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

. Arlen worked with director

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

, writing the script for ''

'' (1985). Arlen and Ephron later worked together on ''

'' (1989), which was directed by

Susan Seidelman Susan Seidelman (Born December 11, 1952) is an American film director, producer, and writer. She first came to notice with '' Smithereens'' (1982), the earliest American independent feature to be screened in Competition at the Cannes Film Festiva ...

. Later, Arlen also wrote the screenplay for ''

'' (2000), and

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...

's first feature film as director, ''

'' (2007).

Filmography

(with

) (1983) *

(1985) *

(with

) (1989) (also Executive Producer) * A Shock to the System (Associate Producer) (1990) *

(with

Christopher Kyle Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He has over 150 c ...

) (2000) *

A Thief of Time ''A Thief of Time'' is the eighth crime fiction novel Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman, first published in 1988. It was adapted for television as part of the PBS ''Mystery!'' series in 2004. The story inv ...

(2004) (TV) *

(with

Victor Levin The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

and

) (2007)

Personal life

Arlen married

James Hoge James Fulton Hoge Jr. (born December 25, 1935) was the editor of ''Foreign Affairs'' and the Peter G. Peterson Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. His principal areas of expertise are U.S. foreign policy and international economic policy. C ...

. They had three children. In 1971, Arlen divorced. In 1972, Arlen married

Michael J. Arlen Michael John Arlen (born December 9, 1930, London, England) is an American writer, primarily of non-fiction and personal history, as well as a longtime staff writer and television critic for ''The New Yorker''. Early life Arlen is the son of a ...

and later moved to New York. In 2016, Arlen died at her home in Manhattan, New York. She was 75 years old.

Family tree

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arlen, Alice 1940 births 2016 deaths American women screenwriters American women journalists Writers from Chicago Journalists from Illinois Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Radcliffe College alumni Medill-Patterson family Writers from Manhattan Albright family Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Illinois