Community hub
0 subscribers8 pages, 0 posts
Recent from talks
All channels
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Contribute something
Welcome to the community hub built to collect knowledge and have discussions related to Alvin Sargent.
Nothing was collected or created yet.
Alvin Sargent
View on Wikipediafrom Wikipedia
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2019) |
Alvin Sargent (April 12, 1927 – May 9, 2019) was an American screenwriter. He won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Julia (1977) and Ordinary People (1980). Sargent's other works include screenplays of the films The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1970), Paper Moon (1973), Nuts (1987), White Palace (1990), What About Bob? (1991), Unfaithful (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Key Information
Early life
[edit]Alvin Sargent was born Alvin Supowitz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Esther (née Kadansky) and Isaac Supowitz. He was of Russian Jewish descent.[2] Sargent attended Upper Darby High School, leaving aged 17 to join the Navy. As of 2006, he was one of 35 alumni to be on the school's Wall of Fame.
Career
[edit]Sargent began writing for television in 1953. Through the 1960s he scripted episodes for Route 66, Ben Casey and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. His first film screenplay was Gambit (1966), written with Jack Davies. He gained recognition for I Walk the Line (1970) and Paper Moon (1973). For his work on the latter, he won the WGA Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and was nominated for an Academy Award. He won the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay in 1978 for the film Julia (1977), and again in 1981 for Ordinary People (1980). Near the end of his career, he collaborated on the screenplays for three Spider-Man films: Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Personal life
[edit]He had a longtime relationship with producer Laura Ziskin; they were married from 2010 until her death in 2011.[3] His brother was writer and producer Herb Sargent.
Death
[edit]Filmography
[edit]Writer
[edit]| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Gambit | Co-written with Jack Davies. |
| 1968 | The Stalking Moon | Co-written with Wendell Mayes. |
| 1969 | The Sterile Cuckoo | |
| 1970 | I Walk the Line | |
| 1972 | The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds | |
| 1973 | Paper Moon | |
| Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing | ||
| 1977 | Julia | |
| Bobby Deerfield | ||
| 1978 | Straight Time | Co-written with Jeffrey Boam. |
| 1980 | Ordinary People | |
| 1987 | Nuts | Co-written with Tom Topor and Daryl Ponicsan. |
| 1988 | Dominick and Eugene | |
| 1990 | White Palace | Co-written with Ted Tally. |
| 1991 | Other People's Money | |
| What About Bob? | Story only; co-written by Laura Ziskin. | |
| 1992 | Hero | Story only; co-written by Laura Ziskin and David Webb Peoples. |
| 1996 | Bogus | |
| 1999 | Anywhere but Here | |
| 2002 | Unfaithful | Co-written with William Broyles Jr. |
| Spider-Man | Uncredited.[5] | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Co-written with Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi. |
| 2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Co-written with James Vanderbilt and Steve Kloves. |
Actor
[edit]- From Here to Eternity (1953) - Nair (uncredited)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Alvin Sargent, Oscar-Winning 'Julia' and 'Ordinary People' Screenwriter, Dies at 92". 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Obituary: Alvin Sargent, noted Hollywood screenwriter who won two Oscars". 16 May 2019.
- ^ Pener, Degen (5 April 2012). "'Spider-Man' Producer Laura Ziskin's Santa Monica House Hits the Market". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ Koseluk, Chris (May 10, 2019). "Alvin Sargent, Oscar-Winning Screenwriter of 'Julia' and 'Ordinary People,' Dies at 92". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
- ^ Greg Dean Schmitz. "Greg's Preview – Spider-Man". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Alvin Sargent
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Early life
Birth and family background
Alvin Sargent was born Alvin Supowitz on April 12, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3][1] His parents were Esther (née Kadansky) and Isaac Supowitz, a grain seller; both were of Russian Jewish descent, with Sargent's grandparents having immigrated from Russia as Jewish refugees.[1][4] The family was part of Philadelphia's Jewish immigrant community, where cultural traditions and economic challenges shaped their early life in the city.[1][5] Sargent had an older brother, Herb Sargent (born Herbert Supowitz), who also pursued a career in entertainment as a writer and producer, notably contributing to Saturday Night Live.[2][1] During early adulthood, Sargent changed his surname from Supowitz to Sargent to better suit opportunities in Hollywood, a decision his brother also made.[1][2]Education and military service
Sargent attended Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania but dropped out at age 17 in 1944 to enlist in the U.S. Navy amid World War II.[6][2][7] During his service from 1944 to 1946, Sargent underwent basic training and performed non-combat duties, including transcribing Morse code messages, which taught him to type proficiently—a skill that later fueled his writing pursuits.[8][9][7] After his discharge, Sargent moved to California, where his mother was living; his exposure to Navy camaraderie and narratives from fellow servicemen ignited an initial interest in storytelling and writing.[1][10] In 2006, Upper Darby High School recognized his achievements by inducting him into its Alumni Wall of Fame as a member of the class of 1945.[11]Career
Television writing
After his service in the United States Navy during World War II, Alvin Sargent relocated to Los Angeles and entered the television writing field in the mid-1950s, initially taking on various jobs while developing his craft.[1] His earliest credited television work came in 1956 with the episode "A Man Named March" for the anthology series Chevron Hall of Stars, directed by Laslo Benedek and starring James Whitmore.[12] This marked his breakthrough into professional writing, showcasing his ability to craft tense, character-focused narratives within the constraints of live television anthologies.[13] Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Sargent contributed scripts to prominent CBS anthology and drama series, including Route 66, Naked City, Empire, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.[2] These episodes often emphasized psychological depth and moral ambiguity, drawing on everyday human struggles to drive the plots. His work on medical dramas further highlighted this approach; for The Doctors and the Nurses, he penned stories exploring ethical dilemmas in healthcare, while for Ben Casey, he co-wrote the 1962 episode "To a Grand and Natural Finale" with Gabrielle Upton, which addressed themes of euthanasia, racial tension, and personal despair through the interactions of a young patient and an elderly boxer.[14][6] Sargent's television output during this era included dozens of episodes across multiple series, amassing a body of work that refined his economical style and emotional insight before his transition to feature films in the late 1960s.[8] He occasionally drew subtle inspiration from his Navy experiences for dramatic tension in these character-driven pieces, though his scripts primarily focused on universal interpersonal conflicts. His older brother, Herb Sargent, was also a noted television writer and producer, contributing to shows like Saturday Night Live, but the siblings pursued independent paths in the industry.[15]Film screenwriting
Alvin Sargent's entry into feature film screenwriting came with the 1966 heist comedy Gambit, which he co-wrote with Jack Davies based on a story by Sidney Carroll; directed by Ronald Neame and starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, the film marked Sargent's debut in theatrical releases. His early work demonstrated a knack for witty dialogue and intricate plotting, skills initially sharpened through television writing.[6] Sargent achieved a breakthrough with Paper Moon (1973), an adaptation of Joe David Brown's novel Addie Pray, directed by Peter Bogdanovich and featuring Ryan and Tatum O'Neal as a con artist and his young accomplice during the Great Depression. The screenplay earned Sargent an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium, praised for its blend of humor and heartfelt character moments.[16][17] Sargent's screenwriting garnered two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. For Julia (1977), directed by Fred Zinnemann, he adapted a chapter from Lillian Hellman's memoir Pentimento, chronicling the playwright's friendship with an anti-Nazi activist amid pre-World War II Europe, starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave; the film won the Oscar in 1978.[18] His second win came for Ordinary People (1980), an adaptation of Judith Guest's novel about a family's emotional unraveling after tragedy, directed by Robert Redford in his feature debut and featuring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton; the screenplay was lauded for its unflinching exploration of grief and repression. Earlier, Sargent received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), a coming-of-age drama he penned from an original story, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Liza Minnelli as a quirky college student navigating first love. In later decades, he co-wrote Nuts (1987) with Tom Topor and Darryl Ponicsan, a courtroom thriller directed by Martin Ritt and starring Barbra Streisand as a woman fighting for her sanity in a murder trial. Sargent also contributed to Unfaithful (2002), co-writing the screenplay with William Broyles Jr. from Claude Chabrol's La Femme infidèle, directed by Adrian Lyne and exploring marital infidelity with Diane Lane and Richard Gere. His involvement extended to the Spider-Man franchise, co-writing Spider-Man 2 (2004) with story contributions from Michael Chabon, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and others, and Spider-Man 3 (2007) with Ivan Raimi and Sam Raimi, under director Sam Raimi, and contributing to The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) with James Vanderbilt, Scott Frank, and Jeff Pinkner, adapting Marvel Comics characters for films produced by his wife, Laura Ziskin.[6] Throughout his career, spanning over 20 feature credits from 1966 to 2012, Sargent emphasized emotional depth and family dynamics in his scripts, particularly in adaptations that delved into personal relationships and psychological tension.[6] His collaborations were notable, including repeated work with directors like Bogdanovich and Redford, as well as producers such as Ziskin on the blockbuster Spider-Man series, where he balanced intimate character studies with large-scale action.[13][19]Acting appearances
Alvin Sargent's acting career was brief and marked by minor, often uncredited roles that served as his initial foray into Hollywood during the 1950s. After serving in the U.S. Navy and relocating to Los Angeles, Sargent pursued acting opportunities while working in advertising sales for Variety magazine, securing headshots and representation to break into the industry.[13] His most notable on-screen appearance came in 1953 with an uncredited role as Sergeant Nair in Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity, where he portrayed a soldier killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This part, obtained through his agent, provided Sargent with his first encounter with a screenplay during the flight to Hawaii for filming and marked a pivotal early exposure to professional film production.[20][1][21] Throughout the decade, Sargent took on additional small acting jobs in television, primarily non-speaking or background capacities, as a means to network and gain firsthand insights into set operations and storytelling techniques that would later shape his transition to screenwriting. With fewer than 10 known credits overall, these roles underscored his early efforts to establish a foothold in entertainment before fully pivoting to writing by the late 1950s.[8]Personal life
Marriages and relationships
Alvin Sargent's first marriage was to actress Joan Camden, born Joan Creears, on August 15, 1953; the union lasted until their divorce in September 1975.[22][23] In the 1980s, Sargent began a long-term relationship with film producer Laura Ziskin, whom he later married in 2010.[13][5] Their marriage ended with Ziskin's death from breast cancer on June 12, 2011.[24][15] Sargent and Ziskin collaborated professionally on several projects, including the Spider-Man film series.[6][20][15] Sargent had no other marriages, and following Ziskin's death, he resided quietly in Seattle until his own passing in 2019.[1][2]Family and relatives
Alvin Sargent had two daughters from his first marriage, Amanda Sargent and Jennifer Sargent, born during the 1950s and 1960s.[15] Both daughters survived him following his death in 2019.[2] Amanda worked as a counselor.[25] Sargent's only sibling was his older brother, Herb Sargent (1923–2005), a prominent television writer and producer who won multiple Emmy Awards for his contributions to shows including Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show.[6][26] Sargent and his second wife, Laura Ziskin, had no confirmed children together.[15] He had a stepdaughter, Julia Barry, from Ziskin's previous marriage to Julian Barry.[2]Death and legacy
Death
Alvin Sargent died on May 9, 2019, at the age of 92, from natural causes at his home in Seattle, Washington.[6][27][28] His death was confirmed by family representatives, including his daughter Amanda Sargent, who spoke to The New York Times.[15] Obituaries appeared in major publications shortly after, with The Hollywood Reporter announcing the news on May 10, 2019, based on information from friend and producer Pam Williams, and The New York Times publishing a full obituary the following day.[6][15] Sargent was survived by his daughters, Amanda and Jennifer, from his first marriage to actress Joan Camden, as well as a stepdaughter, Julia Barry, from his marriage to producer Laura Ziskin.[6][15][9] No details regarding a public funeral or memorial service were released.[6][15]Posthumous recognition and influence
Alvin Sargent's lifetime achievements include two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Julia in 1977 and Ordinary People in 1980, as well as the Writers Guild of America Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement in 2000.[6][19] No major posthumous awards have been conferred as of 2025.[29] Following his death in 2019, numerous obituaries and tributes emphasized Sargent's contributions to the Spider-Man film series, crediting his work on Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) for bridging literary depth with blockbuster action.[15][1][30] These remembrances, appearing in outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian, highlighted how his adaptations humanized superhero narratives, sustaining interest in his oeuvre amid the franchise's enduring popularity.[2][31] Sargent's influence on screenwriting persists through retrospectives praising his empathetic approach to character-driven adaptations, particularly in handling themes of emotional repression and family dynamics, as seen in Ordinary People's exploration of grief and therapy.[13] Screenwriters have lauded his mentorship-like guidance in interviews, noting his emphasis on authentic emotional arcs over plot mechanics, which informed generations of writers adapting literary sources.[32][33] Scholarly analysis of his work reveals limited discussion of his Russian Jewish heritage—despite its presence in films like Julia with Holocaust elements—potentially leaving room for deeper cultural examinations.[5][34] Sargent's legacy encompasses an extensive filmography of over 70 credits, spanning television episodes and feature films from the 1950s to the 2010s.[35] Works like Julia and Ordinary People maintain prominence in film studies for their nuanced portrayals of female friendship amid political turmoil and suburban familial strife, respectively, influencing curricula on adaptation and dramatic structure.[13][32]Filmography
As screenwriter
Sargent began his screenwriting career in television during the early 1960s, contributing episodes to several dramatic anthology and series programs. He wrote four episodes for Route 66 between 1960 and 1964, including "To Walk with the Serpent" (1962) and "93 Percent in Smiling" (1963). Additional television credits from the decade include episodes for Ben Casey ("Dispel the Black Cyclone That Covered the Earth?", 1962), Naked City ("A Hole in the Head", 1962), Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("The Dividing Wall", 1963), The Nurses ("The Gift", 1963), Empire ("A House in Order", 1963), and The Defenders ("The Iron Man", 1964).[36][35] His feature film screenwriting credits, listed chronologically, are as follows:| Year | Title | Credit Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Gambit | Screenplay |
| 1968 | The Stalking Moon | Screenplay |
| 1969 | The Sterile Cuckoo | Screenplay |
| 1970 | I Walk the Line | Screenplay |
| 1972 | The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds | Screenplay |
| 1973 | Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing | Screenplay |
| 1973 | Paper Moon | Adapted screenplay (from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown) |
| 1977 | Julia | Adapted screenplay (from the book Pentimento by Lillian Hellman); Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 1977 | Bobby Deerfield | Adapted screenplay (from the novel Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque) |
| 1978 | Straight Time | Screenplay (with Edward Bunker and Jeffrey Boam; from the novel No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker) |
| 1980 | Ordinary People | Adapted screenplay (from the novel by Judith Guest); Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 1987 | Nuts | Screenplay (with Darryl Ponicsan; from the play by Tom Topor) |
| 1988 | Dominick and Eugene | Screenplay (with Corey Blechman) |
| 1990 | White Palace | Adapted screenplay (with Ted Tally; from the novel by Glenn Savan) |
| 1991 | Other People's Money | Adapted screenplay (from the play by Jerry Sterner) |
| 1991 | What About Bob? | Story (with Laura Ziskin) |
| 1992 | Hero | Story (with Laura Ziskin and David Webb Peoples) |
| 1996 | Bogus | Screenplay |
| 1999 | Anywhere but Here | Adapted screenplay (from the novel by Mona Simpson) |
| 2002 | Unfaithful | Screenplay (with William Broyles Jr.) |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Screenplay (with Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon) |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Screenplay (with Ivan Raimi) |
| 2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Screenplay (with James Vanderbilt and Steve Kloves) |