Eric Roth

Eric Roth
Born	(1945-03-22) March 22, 1945 (age 79) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Santa Barbara UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Occupation	Screenwriter
Years active	1970–present
Notable work	Forrest Gump The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Dune Killers of the Flower Moon Here
Spouse	Anne L. Peters[1]
Children	5, including Vanessa
Awards	Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump (1994) Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (2012)

Eric R. Roth (born March 22, 1945) is an American screenwriter. He has been nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: Forrest Gump (1994), The Insider (1999), Munich (2005), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), A Star Is Born (2018), and Dune (2021) — winning for Forrest Gump; he also earned a Best Picture nomination for producing Mank (2020). Roth also worked on the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated films Ali (2001), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Early life and education

Roth was born in New York City, New York, into a Jewish family, the son of Miriam "Mimi", a teacher, studio executive, and radio writer, and Leon Roth, a university teacher and film producer.^[2][3] He grew up in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in New York.^[4] He grew up boxing and would credit some of his later successes to habits learned from the sport.^[4]

Roth went to college at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1966.^[5] He later attended UCLA Film School as part of the class of 1973.

Career

Roth won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump. He is known for writing his scripts in a DOS program without Internet access and distributing the scripts only in hard copy formats.^[3][6][7] He followed his Academy Award win by co-writing screenplays for several Oscar-nominated films, including The Insider, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and A Star Is Born. While writing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, he lost both of his parents, and as a result views the film as "my most personal movie."^[4][8][9]

Personal life

Roth lives in Santa Monica, California.^[10] He has five children, including documentary filmmaker Vanessa Roth, and filmmakers Geoffrey Roth and Alec Roth; and six grandchildren.

Roth was one of the investors defrauded by Bernard Madoff in a Ponzi scheme via Stanley Chais.^[11][12] He stated that his losses were heavy and he has lost his retirement money, although the full extent is unknown. As a result of the fraud and the associated losses, Roth sued the estate of Chais, who died on September 26, 2010.

Filmography

Film

As writer

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1970	To Catch a Pebble	James F. Collier
1974	The Nickel Ride	Robert Mulligan
1975	The Drowning Pool	Stuart Rosenberg	Uncredited
1979	The Onion Field	Harold Becker
	The Concorde ... Airport '79	David Lowell Rich
1981	Wolfen	Michael Wadleigh	Uncredited
1985	Year of the Dragon	Michael Cimino
1987	Suspect	Peter Yates
1988	Memories of Me	Henry Winkler	with Billy Crystal
1993	Mr. Jones	Mike Figgis	with Michael Cristofer
1994	Forrest Gump	Robert Zemeckis
1997	The Postman	Kevin Costner	with Brian Helgeland
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Robert Redford	with Richard LaGravenese
1999	The Insider	Michael Mann	with Mann
2001	Ali		with Mann, Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson
2005	Munich	Steven Spielberg	with Tony Kushner
2006	The Good Shepherd	Robert De Niro
2007	Lucky You	Curtis Hanson	with Hanson
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	David Fincher
2011	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	Stephen Daldry
2015	Ellis	JR	Short film
2018	A Star Is Born	Bradley Cooper	with Cooper and Will Fetters
2020	Mank	David Fincher	Uncredited; also producer
2021	Dune	Denis Villeneuve	with Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts
2023	Killers of the Flower Moon	Martin Scorsese	with Scorsese
2024	Dune: Part Two	Denis Villeneuve	Additional Literary Material
	Here	Robert Zemeckis	with Zemeckis

Television

Year	Title	Writer	Executive Producer	Notes
1972	The Strangers in 7A	Yes	No	TV movie
1992	The Heights	Yes	No	Co-creator
1994	Jane's House	Yes	No	TV movie
2011–2012	Luck	Yes	Yes
2013–2017	House of Cards	No	Yes
2016–2018	Berlin Station	No	Yes
2018	The Alienist	No	Yes
2020	The Alienist: Angel of Darkness	No	Yes
2024	Before	No	Yes

Accolades

Academy Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1995	Forrest Gump	Best Adapted Screenplay	Won
2000	The Insider		Nominated
2006	Munich		Nominated
2009	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button		Nominated
2019	A Star Is Born		Nominated
2021	Mank	Best Picture	Nominated
2022	Dune	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated

British Academy Film Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1995	Forrest Gump	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button		Nominated
2018	A Star Is Born		Nominated
2021	Dune		Nominated

Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2009	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Best Writer	Nominated
2012	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
2019	A Star Is Born		Nominated
2022	Dune		Nominated
2024	Killers of the Flower Moon		Nominated

Golden Globe Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1995	Forrest Gump	Best Screenplay - Motion Picture	Nominated
2000	The Insider		Nominated
2006	Munich		Nominated
2009	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button		Nominated
2024	Killers of the Flower Moon		Nominated

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2013	House of Cards	Outstanding Drama Series	Nominated
2014			Nominated
2015			Nominated
2016			Nominated
2017			Nominated
2018	The Alienist	Outstanding Limited Series	Nominated

Producers Guild of America Award

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2014	House of Cards	Best Episodic Drama	Nominated
2015			Nominated
2016			Nominated
2017			Nominated

Satellite Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Best Screenplay - Adapted	Nominated
2019	A Star Is Born		Nominated
2022	Dune		Nominated
2024	Killers of the Flower Moon		Nominated

Writers Guild of America Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1995	Forrest Gump	Best Adapted Screenplay	Won
2000	The Insider	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
		Paul Selvin Award	Won
2009	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
2012		Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement	Won
2019	A Star Is Born	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
2022	Dune	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
2024	Killers of the Flower Moon	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated

References

1. Fleishman, Jeffrey (October 19, 2023). "Screenwriter Eric Roth on 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and a life of big scripts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
2. "Profile: Eric Roth", filmreference.com
3. Pfefferman, Naomi (January 26, 2012). "Writer's Guild to Honor 'Extremely' Talented Screenwriter Eric Roth". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Los Angeles. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
4. Tallal, Jimy (April 11, 2015). "Salon Series Continues with Screenwriter Eric Roth". The Malibu Times. Malibu, California. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
5. Hildebrand, Romy (February 4, 2022). "DUNE: A NEW FRONTIER FOR SCREENWRITER ERIC ROTH". hfa.ucsb.edu. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
6. Tapley, Kristopher (September 22, 2014). "Did You Know: 'Forrest Gump' Screenwriter Eric Roth Uses A DOS Program To Write Scripts". HitFix. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
7. Renée, V (September 24, 2014). "Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Eric Roth Takes You on a Tour of His Writing Process". No Film School. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
8. Yamato, Jen (December 22, 2008). "RT INTERVIEW: ERIC ROTH CALLS BENJAMIN BUTTON HIS MOST PERSONAL FILM TO DATE". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
9. "Interview: Benjamin Button Writer Eric Roth". GamesRadar. January 28, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
10. McClain, James (August 23, 2019). "'A Star Is Born' Writer Eric Roth Settles in Santa Monica". Variety.
11. Reckard, E. Scott; Abramowitz, Rachel; Eller, Claudia (December 17, 2008). "Hollywood figures snared in Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud". LA Times.
12. Standora, Leo (May 2, 2009). "Los Angeles investment manager Stanley Chais sued for funneling cash to Bernie Madoff fund". Daily News. New York.

External links

• Eric Roth at IMDb