Playwright, screenwriter Horton Foote dies at 92

Yahoo - AP ^ | 3/4/05 | MICHAEL KUCHWARA

[Borges]

NEW YORK – Playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, who movingly portrayed the broken dreams of common people in "The Trip to Bountiful," "Tender Mercies" and his Oscar-winning screen adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird," died Wednesday in Connecticut, Paul Marte, a spokesman for Hartford Stage, said. He was 92.

Foote died in his sleep in his apartment in Hartford where he was preparing work on "The Orphans' Home Cycle," a collection of nine plays, for next September at the nonprofit theater, Marte said.

Foote left the cotton fields of his native Wharton, Texas, as a teenager, dreaming of becoming an actor. But realizing his gifts as a storyteller, he embarked on a writing career that spanned more than half a century and earned him two Academy Awards ("To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Tender Mercies") and a 1995 Pulitzer Prize for "The Young Man From Atlanta."

[gussiefinknottle]

He was a lovely writer.

[daku]

Robert Duvalls “Tender Mercies” ?
I love that movie

RIP sir

[JennysCool]

A fine, long life.

[RJR_fan]

Color me another fan who mourns. Foote, a member of the Church of Christ, Scientist, nonetheless portrayed fundamentalist Christians as people worthy of respect, people of dignity. I really enjoyed that surrealistic communion scene at the end of Tender Mercies where the elements are shared by all the characters, living and dead.

[Borges]

Are you confusing 1983’s ‘Tender Mercies’ with 1984’s ‘Places in the Heart’ which was written by another Texan, Robert Benton?

[CaptRon]

I went to school with his son Horton for a short time. The Footes were living in hometown when I was a kid.

[EveningStar]

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[mylife]

To kill a mocking bird is a haunting film that holds up today

[seoul62]

Yes, it was a great film, but at Oscar Time: Peter O’Toole’s performance in Lawrence of Arabia was profoundly overlooked. Lawrence of Arabia nor Peter O’Toole’s masterful performance, today could be duplicated. No present day Actor or director is up to the task./Just Asking - seoul62.......

[fieldmarshaldj]

One of the 20th century literary giants. RIP.

[RJR_fan]

I believe you are right. The two movies seemed similar in time, place, and atmosphere.