David Zelag Goodman (January 15, 1930 – September 26, 2011) was a playwright and screenwriter for both TV and film. His most prolific period was from the 1960s to the early 1980s. He was nominated for an Academy Award for ''

Lovers and Other Strangers ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' is a 1970 American romantic comedy film directed by Cy Howard, adapted from the 1968 Broadway play of the same name by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The cast includes Richard S. Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Lea ...

'', though he did not win. He co-wrote, with

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...

, the screenplay for 1971's controversial '' Straw Dogs''. Other films that he wrote or co-wrote included ''

Logan's Run ''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusianism future society in which both population and the consumption of resource ...

'', '' Monte Walsh'', and ''

Farewell, My Lovely ''Farewell, My Lovely'' is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and rad ...

''. He also wrote a number of the episodes of ''

The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The U ...

'' in the early 1960s.

Biography

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, he majored in English at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

, then studied at

Yale Drama School The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in ...

in 1958. At age 24, his play, ''High Named Today'', which was to have starred

Jane Wyatt Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's ''Lost Horizon'', but is likely best known for her role as the housewife and mother Marg ...

on Broadway, ended up running briefly

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in February 1954. He was often sought as a "script doctor" because he could quickly identify screenplay flaws, as when

Sherry Lansing Sherry Lansing (born Sherry Lee Duhl; July 31, 1944) is an American philanthropist and retired film studio executive. She is a former CEO of Paramount Pictures and president of production at 20th Century Fox. In 1996, she became the first woman ...

brought him in to work on the thriller ''

Fatal Attraction ''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film centers ...

''. According to his friend, the film and television producer

Zev Braun Zev Braun (October 19, 1928 – October 17, 2019) was an American motion picture producer. Though much of his work is in television (most notably as the executive producer of the ''Tour of Duty'' series) he was a successful filmmaker from th ...

, Goodman said to Lansing of the

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

character: "You can't let her off the hook. You should kill her. Let's drown her!" Until his death from

Progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...

, he was married for 61 years to Marjorie Goodman. Their daughter Kevis Goodman is an associate professor of English at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

Filmography

*''

The Stranglers of Bombay ''The Stranglers of Bombay'' is a 1959 British adventure horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Films dealing with the British East India Company's investigation of the cult of Thuggee stranglers in the 1830s. The film stars Guy Rolf ...

'' (1960) (as David Z. Goodman) *''

'' (1970) (with

Joseph Bologna Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films ''My Favorite Year'', ''Blame It on Rio'' and ''Transylvania 6-5000 (1985 film), Transylvania ...

and Renee Taylor) *'' Monte Walsh'' (1970) (with

Lukas Heller Lukas Heller (21 July 1930 – 2 November 1988) was a German-born screenwriter. Biography Heller was born to a Jewish family in Kiel. His father was political philosopher Hermann Heller. He was known for writing the screen adaptions for several ...

) *'' Straw Dogs'' (1971) (with

) *''

Man on a Swing ''Man on a Swing'' is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Frank Perry and written by David Zelag Goodman. The film stars Cliff Robertson, Joel Grey, Dorothy Tristan, Elizabeth Wilson and George Voskovec and was released on February 27, 1 ...

'' (1974) *''

'' (1975) *''

'' (1976) *'' March or Die'' (1977) (with

Dick Richards Dick Richards (born 1936) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Known as a storyteller and an “actor’s director”, Richards worked with Robert Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Martin Sheen, Blythe Danner, Catherine Deneuve, Al ...

) *''

Eyes of Laura Mars ''Eyes of Laura Mars'' is a 1978 American neo noir mystery-thriller film starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones and directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay was adapted (in collaboration with David Zelag Goodman) from a spec script titled '' ...

'' (1978) (with

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

) *'' Fighting Back'' (1982) (with Tom Hedley) *''

Man, Woman and Child ''Man, Woman and Child'' is a novel by Erich Segal. It details the lives of Robert and Sheila Beckwith and their daughters Jessica and Paula. Synopsis Robert is contacted one day by a friend in France, who tells him that Nicole, a woman with ...

'' (1983) (with

Erich Segal Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel '' Love Story'' (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Early life and education Born and raised in a ...

)

TV credits

*''

Goodyear Theatre ''Goodyear Theatre'' (also known as ''Award Theatre'' and ''Golden Years of Television'') is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC from 1957 to 1960 for a total of 55 episodes. The live show was directed by many notable ...

'' (1960) *'' The New Breed'' (1961) *'' Naked City'' (1963) *''

'' (1961-1963) *''

Combat! ''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...

'' (1963, episode "High Named Today") *'' Mr. Broadway'' (1964) *''

Freedom Road ''Freedom Road'' was a 1979 American TV historical drama mini-series starring boxer Muhammad Ali and Kris Kristofferson, based on the 1944 novel by Howard Fast and directed by Jan Kadar. Running for four hours, it was first broadcast on NBC on ...

'' (1979)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, David Zelag 1930 births 2011 deaths American male screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters Writers from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews