Posted on 11/04/2015 5:53:19 PM PST by Borges
Melissa Mathison, who was Oscar-nominated for original screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial†and also wrote “The Black Stallion,†died Wednesday in Los Angeles after an illness, her brother Dirk Mathison confirmed. She was 65.
She recently reunited with Spielberg to write the screenplay for Roald Dahl adaptation “The BFG,†which is in post-production. Mathison, who was married to Harrison Ford from 1983 to 2004, had two children with the actor, Malcolm and Georgia.
Mathison also served as associate producer on “E.T.,†which was produced by Kathleen Kennedy.
Spielberg, who worked closely with Mathison on the concept for the film partially inspired by his parents’ divorce, said in a statement Wednesday, “Melissa had a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T.â€
On a DVD special edition of the 1982 classic, Spielberg described her contribution: “Melissa delivered this 107-page first draft to me and I read it in about an hour. I was just knocked out. It was a script I was willing to shoot the next day. It was so honest, and Melissa’s voice made a direct connection with my heart.â€
Mathison explained on the DVD: “I would write for four or five days in my little office in Hollywood, and then drive out to Marina Del Rey where Steven Spielberg was editing in a little apartment on the beach. I’d bring him my pages and we’d sit and go through them…It took about eight weeks for us to get the first draft, which was quite fast, I think.â€
She also wrote screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s 1997 “Kundun,†during which she started a friendship with the film’s subject, the Dalai Lama.
She had a particular feeling for children’s literature, adapting classic novel “The Indian in the Cupboard†for Kennedy-Marshall Productions. She also wrote screenplays for “The Escape Artist,†a segment in the “Twilight Zone†movie as well as the TV movie “Son of the Morning Star.â€
Mathison was born in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley.
There’s also this:
Harrison Ford Twice Rescued Lost Hikers in His Own Helicopter
http://www.etonline.com/news/160722_harrison_ford_twice_rescued_lost_hikers_his_own_helicopter/
Nope...never seen ET, never will.
He also had an early role in “American Graffiti” and I think he was a bit of the Han Solo type even if he was a jerk.
Why?
It was OK but seeing it once was enough.
Why? Why do YOU care what I think?
He’s smart but he’s sort of quiet and odd/eccentric. Hard to explain but it’s pretty much 180 degrees from the swashbuckling charming scoundrel hero type characters he usually plays.
I’m curious.
IIRC he tooled around in a big car in “American Graffiti”,one of my favorite movies.
.
Yes that was a good movie even tho I have come to dislike Lucas.
I am right there with you. I didn’t care for it either. I don’t even like Star Wars!!
Why? Why do YOU care what I think?
Because you’re writing a comment on a forum?
I was a teen when Star Wars came out. So Forbidden Planet was before my time. And yet it is one of my favorites.
“I may be the only person in the world who didn’t like ET but I really, really did not like it. I could not stand it.”
Never been able to watch it through completely.
The only movie I am more mystified about people liking is Dirty Dancing. Which is one of the most egregiously overrated pieces of celluloid crap ever produced.
I got so upset I left the theater and waited for my better half to walk out with the kids.
That film and Poltergeist depicted ineffective grown up hippie parents. It was almost critical of them for being that way.
I can’t say I liked it or disliked it . I simply never thought much about it . Guess that makes me a shallow .
The one thing I remember about Ford that I even told my kids was that his dad told him if he wanted to act or go into the arts that’s fine, but learn a craft so that you have something to fall back on. He was a carpenter and did screen testing calls straight from the job site. One bit I heard was that the tools he used in Witness (really liked that film) were all his own and that he still does carpentry.
No clue what caused the breakup, but I never heard he was a jerk about it or anything bad happened, so may have just been a hollywood mutual parting of the way type thing.
Sorry to hijack this Harrison Ford thread, but did anyone read where Melissa Mathison died?
LOL! No kidding. Unfortunately, the following will likely be on her headstone:
Melissa Mathison
Ex-Wife of Harrison Ford
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