Famous Screenwriters a to z

Director, producer and playwright George Abbott lived to be 107 and participated in such Broadway productions as Boy Meets Girl, The Fall Guy and Our Town.

J.J. Abrams is a screenwriter, director and producer known for TV shows like Felicity and Alias and films like Star Trek and Super 8.

Ben Affleck is known for co-writing and acting in Good Will Hunting, starring in Armageddon, and directing, co-producing and acting in Argo.

James Agee was a film critic for TIME magazine, penned the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Death in the Family.

Woody Allen is an American comedian, filmmaker and writer who directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan.

Judd Apatow is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40.

Actor Tom Arnold was married to actress Roseanne Barr for four years and wrote for the sitcom Roseanne. He starred in the film True Lies (1994) and hosted The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Dan Aykroyd is a Canadian actor and comedian known for his performances on Saturday Night Live, and in the hit films The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters.

Actress Drew Barrymore gained early fame as a child star. She later struggled with substance abuse and notoriety, before re-emerging as a talented actress and producer.

Roberto Benigni is an Italian actor, director and producer best known for his 1997 Oscar winning film La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful).

Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director and producer best known for films such as The Seventh Sea (1956), Cries and Whispers (1971) and Autumn Sonata (1978).

Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow has directed films like Point Break and Zero Dark Thirty. In 2009, she became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director for The Hurt Locker (2008).

Chadwick Boseman is an American actor known for his roles on the TV show Lincoln Heights and as baseball great Jackie Robinson in the biopic 42.

Danny Boyle is a British film director whose films include Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours.

Don Brinkley is known for his work on several TV programs, including Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Untouchables and The Fugitive. He is the legal father of supermodel Christie Brinkley.

James L. Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter, best-known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and Taxi.

Mel Brooks is an iconic filmmaker known for comedies like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, among other works.

Director, producer and screenwriter Tim Burton is known for such films as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, which blend themes of fantasy and horror.

Steve Buscemi is a popular character actor, director and screenwriter. He's known for his role on the critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire.

Jane Campion is a New Zealand film director and writer who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Piano in 1993. She also directed Bright Star.

A master of horror, John Carpenter created the 1978 thriller hit Halloween, which has inspired and influenced countless other filmmakers.

Nick Carter from the pop group the Backstreet Boys is also known for once dating Paris Hilton, starring in a reality TV show and overcoming drug and alcohol addiction.

Shaun Cassidy became a pop music sensation in the 1970s, much like his older half-brother David Cassidy. His first two albums sold more than 5 million copies.

Michael Chabon is an acclaimed, bestselling author who's won the Pulitzer Prize. He's known for several books, including The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and for his work as a screenwriter on Spider-Man 2 and John Carter.

Chevy Chase is a comedic actor who is best know for his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his starring roles in the films Caddyshack and Fletch.

Broadway playwright Pddy Chayefsky picked up two Academy Awards for his films The Hospital and Network.

Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

Sofia Coppola is a film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. She directed The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, winning an Oscar for the latter.

Wes Craven is a horror film director, screenwriter and producer known for projects like Swamp Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series.

Jon Cryer is known for his Emmy-winning role as a single dad on TV's Two and a Half Men as well as his films, especially the '80s teen flick Pretty in Pink.

Brian De Palma is a writer-director whose career has been marked by both hits and misses, with such films as Carrie and Bonfire of the Vanities.

Ruby Dee is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, activist, poet and journalist, perhaps best known for starring in the 1961 film A Raisin in the Sun. She's also known for her civic work with husband Ossie Davis.

Cecil B. DeMille was an actor, director and producer who became a giant of the 20th century film industry, known for epics like The Ten Commandments.

I.A.L. Diamond was a Romanian-born American screenwriter who worked extensively with director Bill Wilder.

Blake Edwards was an American film director, producer and screenwriter who was perhaps best known for The Pink Panther and its sequels.

Jon Favreau is a Hollywood actor, screenwriter, director and producer known for film projects like Swingers, Elf and Iron Man.

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer best known for her roles on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock.

Al Franken is the junior senator of Minnesota who first gained notice as a comedian and political satirist during his long tenure on Saturday Night Live.

Writer James Frey wrote the book, A Million Little Pieces. When The Smoking Gun discredited the book as a memoir, he had to apologize on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Ricky Gervais is a British comedian best known for co-writing and co-directing the television series The Office.

Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director and critic who was a leader of the French New Wave in film during the 1950s-60s.

Edward Gorey was an American illustrator best known for his cartoons of Edwardian children coming to macabre ends. He work can be seen in the animated credits of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery.

Seth Grahame-Smith is author of the best-selling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and screenwriter for Dark Shadows.

Actor, playwright and screenwriter Spalding Gray wrote and performed his own roles in Monster in a Box and Gray’s Anatomy; both became feature films.

Matt Groening is a cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, the longest-running entertainment series in prime time television.

Christopher Guest has written, directed and starred in a number of classic comedies, including This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Waiting for Guffman (1996).

Alec Guinness is an Oscar-winning British actor known for his roles in films like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago and Star Wars.

An early 20th century filmmaking pioneer and one of the first to make a narrative fiction film, Alice Guy-Blaché made more than 1,000 films and ran her own film studio in New Jersey, experimenting with sound syncing, color tinting, interracial casting and special effects.

Canadian-born American actor Phil Hartman is best known for his performances on Saturday Night Live.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Howard Hawks directed Only Angels Have Wings, Sergeant York, Scarface, Bringing Up Baby and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Lillian Hellman was a playwright and screenwriter whose dramas attacked injustice, exploitation and selfishness.

Jim Henson was an American puppeteer best known for creating TV characters, including the Muppets, and for his work on the popular children's show Sesame Street.

Writer and actor Jonah Hill starred in the teen hit Superbad. In 2011, he received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Moneyball.

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was nicknamed the "Master of Suspense" for employing a kind of psychological suspense in his films, producing a distinct viewer experience.

C. Thomas Howell is best known for his acting roles in hit 1980s films E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (directed by Steven Spielberg), The Outsiders (1983) and The Hitcher (1986).

Film director and screenwriter John Hughes directed a string of hit teen films, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.

Michael Imperioli is an actor, writer and producer best known for his Emmy-winning performance on The Sopranos.

Cuban born writer Guillermo Infante was a success for many works, including Tres tristes tigres, winning the Miguel Cervantes literary prize in 1997.

William Inge was a playwright best known for his plays Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize; and Bus Stop.

Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker best known for directing Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.

David Lean was a British director and screenwriter best known for his spectacular cinematography and adaptations of Charles Dickens classics, including Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian director and screenwriter best known for his films Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge.

Director Sidney Lumet was best known for his films Twelve Angry Men and Serpico. He made more than 40 films during his career.

Ida Lupino was a famous mid-20th century film actress who was also a trailblazing director and producer in a male-dominated industry.

Seth MacFarlane is best known for writing, animating and producing the hit TV show Family Guy.

Terrence Malick is a critically acclaimed American film director who films include: Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Tree of Life.

David Mamet is a playwright and screenwriter known for such heady works as American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross.

Herman J. Mankiewicz was a journalist and screenwriter who won an Academy Award for his work on the film Citizen Kane.

American producer, director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz was known for creating memorable characters. He worked with many major Hollywood stars.

Michael Mann in an Emmy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter best known for producing the 1980s crime series, Miami Vice.

Actor, scriptwriter and improvisational comic Jason Mantzoukas has played Rafi on the FX show The League and co-starred with Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator.

Writer Larry McMurtry is noted for his novels set on the frontier, in contemporary small towns, and in increasingly urbanized and industrial areas of Texas.