David Chappe (November 8, 1947, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

– May 13, 2002, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

) was best known as the screenwriter who launched the bidding wars of the late 1980s with his script ''Gale Force''. David was a novelist, photographer, screenwriting instructor, story editor, artist and pianist.

Personal life

Chappe was born in Flatbush, New York and moved to

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, at age eight. He competed as a concert pianist from ages six to 16 and led canoe trips in the Canadian wilderness of the

Boundary Waters The Boundary Waters, also called the Quetico-Superior Country, is a region of wilderness straddling the Canada–United States border between Ontario and Minnesota, in the area just west of Lake Superior. While "Boundary Waters" is a common name ...

. He earned his BA in History and Political Science from Alfred University, and his Master of Fine Arts from

Visual Studies Workshop Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) is a non-profit group dedicated to art education based in Rochester, New York, in the Neighborhood of the Arts. VSW supports makers and interpreters of images through education, publications, exhibitions, and collect ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, in 1978. He learned to tell stories through sequencing of photographic images and later used that visual story sense in writing screenplays. While at VSW Chappe printed dozens of small publications on their Heidelberg Press and moved to Los Angeles in 1980 to work for another small press. Chappe died in 2002 after a four-year battle with

angiosarcoma Angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the endothelial cells that line the walls of blood vessels or lymphatic vessels. Since they are made from vascular lining, they can appear anywhere and at any age, but older people are ...

. He was survived by his wife June Stoddard, daughters Chloe and Jessica, mother Bess, brother Marc, aunt Millie Kleineman and nephew Durin.

Film career

Surrounded by screenwriters in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

, he wrote nearly twenty original screenplays and two novels. Prior to his screenwriting career David wrote for ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular anim ...

''. In just five years he read and wrote coverage on over 5,000 screenplays, becoming the Story Editor for White Eagle Enterprises, Sylvester Stallone's company. In 1989 he finished ''Gale Force'' which was snapped up by Dan Melnick who partnered to produce it with Carolco and actively aided Carolco in the bidding. Stallone was to star. The script was repeatedly rewritten. Relative newcomer

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fai ...

was hired to direct and worked with seven rewriters. After years of rewrites the plug was pulled two weeks before production and the entire creative team moved to ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

''. After the sale of Gale Force Chappe continued to write original screenplays, novels, became a re-writer for Hollywood action films, and wrote the production draft of the 1999 film '' Beowulf''.

Selected filmography

TV *''

Disappearing Act'', 1983 Film *'' Beowulf'', 1999

References

External links

* * * * *Variety International" (USA) November 1998, pg. 1-, "Where are they now? Spec authors.." *"LA Weekly" (USA) June 1989, "Gale Force takes the Market by Storm" * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappe, David 1947 births 2002 deaths American male screenwriters Deaths from angiosarcoma Visual Studies Workshop alumni 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Deaths from cancer in California