Ted Tally (born April 9, 1952) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He adapted the Thomas Harris novel '' The Silence of the Lambs'' into the film of the same name, for which he received the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

, the

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...

, the Chicago Film Critics Award, and the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

Career

Screenwriter

Born William Theodore Tally in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, Tally was educated at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and the Yale School of Drama, and has also taught at each of them. His most notable credit is the screenplay for '' The Silence of the Lambs'', which won him the

as well as the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

Award, Chicago Film Critics Award and an

from the

. Other scripts include '' White Palace'', '' Before and After'', ''

The Juror ''The Juror'' is a 1996 American legal thriller film based on the 1995 novel by George Dawes Green. It was directed by Brian Gibson and stars Demi Moore as a single mother picked for jury duty for a mafia trial and Alec Baldwin as a mobster sent t ...

'', '' All the Pretty Horses'', and ''

12 Strong ''12 Strong'' (also known as ''12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers'') is a 2018 American action-war film directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig. The film is based on Doug Stanton's non-fic ...

''. After declining to write the screenplay for ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

'', Tally returned to

the franchise Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to ...

to write '' Red Dragon''. When asked by ''Inside Film Online'' why he opted not to write the screenplay for ''Hannibal'', he responded, "For a lot of reasons. I didn't like the book. The director,

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film '' Caged Heat'', befo ...

, and I read it and were horrified. We didn't see how we could make a movie from it that we could be proud of and not feel sleazy about it, without making it a totally different story, which we could have done on our own. It was upsetting because we had a friendship with Tom Harris and felt we owed him a lot. But he was defensive and didn't want anything changed and it was frustrating because it would have been the biggest payday for all of us, putting us up there in

Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

territory.""Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference Draws Top Talent"
''Inside Film Magazine''. April 1999.

Plays and awards

''Terra Nova'' was given a staged reading at the

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special A ...

and staged at the

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stude ...

in 1977 and went on to win an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

. It was then given a full production in 1980 at

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

as one of the four productions in the 1980 Festival season. ''Coming Attractions'' won the

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newsp ...

. Tally's plays include ''Hooters'', ''Little Footsteps'', and ''Silver Linings''. His television scripts include ''The Comedy Zone'', ''Hooters'', ''Terra Nova'' for BBC, and ''The Father Clements Story'', which won him the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

. His other honors include fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Other activities

Tally is also credited as an associate producer for '' Mission to Mars'' (2000), as well as creative consultant for ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

'' (2005) and story consultant for '' Shrek 2'' (2004).

Filmography

Screenwriter

* '' The Father Clements Story'' (1987) * '' White Palace'' (1990) * '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Before and After'' (1996) * '' All the Pretty Horses'' (2000) * '' Red Dragon'' (2002) * ''

'' (2018)

Other

* '' Mission to Mars'' (2000) * '' Shrek 2'' (2004) * ''

'' (2005) * '' Shrek the Third'' (2007)

References

External links

*
Times 1982 review of ''Hooters''''Hooters'' on Amazon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tally, Ted 1952 births Living people American male screenwriters Edgar Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners Yale School of Drama alumni Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Screenwriters from North Carolina Yale College alumni Yale University alumni