Melissa Mathison

Mathison was born on June 3, 1950, in Los Angeles, one of five siblings. Her father, Richard Randolph Mathison, was the Los Angeles bureau chief of Newsweek. Her mother was Margaret Jean (née Kieffer) Mathison, a food writer and convenience-foods entrepreneur. After graduating from Providence High School in 1968, Mathison attended the University of California, Berkeley. Her family was friendly with Francis Ford Coppola, whose children were babysat by Mathison. Coppola offered her a job as his assistant on The Godfather Part II (1974), an opportunity for which she left her studies at UC Berkeley.

With Coppola's encouragement, she wrote a script for The Black Stallion, adapted from the novel, that caught Steven Spielberg's attention.[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/05/melissa-mathison-master-hollywood-storyteller-et-the-extra-terrestrial?CMP=ema_565a "Melissa Mathison: a masterful storyteller who brought ET to life"], The Guardian, November 5, 2015.

Mathison wrote the screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) in collaboration with Steven Spielberg. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.{{cite magazine|last1=Saperstein|first1=Pat|title=Melissa Mathison, 'E.T.' Screenwriter and Ex-Wife of Harrison Ford, Dies at 65|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/melissa-mathison-e-t-screenwriter-dies-dead-1201633801/|magazine=Variety|access-date=November 8, 2015}} The script was based on a story, written by John Sayles, that Spielberg provided to Mathison during the filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Spielberg attributes the line "E.T. phone home" to Mathison.{{cite news|last1=Weber|first1=Bruce|title=Melissa Mathison, 65, Dies; Wrote Screenplay for 'E.T.'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/movies/melissa-mathison-et-screenwriter-dies-at-65.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries|access-date=November 8, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 6, 2015}} She collaborated again with Spielberg for The BFG (2016), her final film, which was dedicated in her memory. She also had film credits for The Escape Artist (1982) and The Indian in the Cupboard (1995).

Mathison met the Dalai Lama in 1990 when she was writing the script for Kundun (1997) and developed a lasting friendship with him. She continued to work as an activist for Tibetan freedom and was on the board of the International Campaign for Tibet.Melissa Mathison, [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-conversation-with-the-dalai-lama-20110721#ixzz24I1KmzSd A Conversation with the Dalai Lama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701022913/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-conversation-with-the-dalai-lama-20110721#ixzz24I1KmzSd |date=July 1, 2013 }}, Rolling Stone, July 21, 2011

Mathison had an extramarital relationship with Francis Ford Coppola while working as his assistant on The Godfather Part II, an affair that lasted through the production of Apocalypse Now.{{cite book

| last = Wasson

| first = Sam

| date = 2003

| title = The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story

| quote = [Eleanor Coppola] had discovered [Francis] was having an affair, several affairs; there was, for starters, Playboy Bunny Linda Carpenter... There was the kids' former babysitter, his assistant on Godfather II, Melissa Mathison. They had been seeing each other since then.

| location = New York

| publisher = Harper

| page = 178

| isbn = 9780063037847

}} From 1983 to 2004, she was married to Harrison Ford; the couple had two children. She died on November 4, 2015, in Los Angeles, aged 65, from neuroendocrine cancer.{{cite news|last1=Chawkins|first1=Steve|title=Melissa Mathison dies at 65; screenwriter of 'E.T.,' 'Black Stallion,' 'Kundun'|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-melissa-mathinson-dies-story.html|access-date=November 8, 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 4, 2015}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0558953}}

{{Saturn Award for Best Writing 1973–1990}}

{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay}}

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Category:1950 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:American women screenwriters

Category:Tibet freedom activists

Category:Screenwriters from Los Angeles

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:20th-century American writers

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American writers

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:Deaths from cancer in California

Category:Deaths from neuroendocrine cancer

Category:Activists from Los Angeles

Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners