Top 15 Best Screenwriters of all time. The invisible heroes behind a typewriter.
- Anastasia Bartzoulianou
- Sep 21, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 24
How often do you pay attention to the screenwriter, when you watch a film or a tv series? If you never did, this post is for you: a chance to get to know, from the oldest to the youngest, some screenwriters who have left their mark in the history of the visual arts! We couldn't miss having such a list on this blog, which is dedicated exclusively to the art of screenwriting. This selection is of course entirely personal, and according to my own preferences. The list should be much longer, but for the sake of brevity, I've chosen some of the most distinctive voices and some of my own favorite screenwriters, out of all those who have lived and worked in the U.S. - always by using my own criteria. I don't distinguish between writing for film or television. Most of these writers haven't done so themselves in their careers. For writers who have lived and worked outside the U.S., I'll have to create a separate list soon...
One of my favorite classic films is Ben Hecht's adaptation of his own play into the legendary
His Girl Friday (1940). They honored him by omitting him from the credits of the film as a screenwriter! Hecht has great films to his credit including Howard Hawks' Scarface (1932) and Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), dozens of screenplays, plays and books. One of Hollywood's most prolific, classic screenwriters.
Billy Wilder, besides being a great director, often signed the scripts of his films. He deserves credit for two of the most classic noir films: Sunset Blvd. (1950), and Double Indemnity (1944). We bow down to this immense talent that shone in every possible way.
Horton Foote won two Oscars, for the screenplay of the films Tender Mercies (1983) and To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962) and signed the rich texture of The Trip To Bountiful (1985) thus becoming one of the most acclaimed screenwriters in the history of American cinema. It was impossible not to mention him!
One of the most famous screenwriters in the history of American cinema, William Goldman, has won two Oscars for his scripts All the President's Men (1976) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969.) His film credits include acclaimed movies such as Misery (1990) by Rob Reiner, an adaptation he worked on, using Stephen King's titular novel.
No list could spare including the creator of the screenplay for the film Chinatown (1974) by Roman Polanski, taught in every scriptwriting course for its classical structure and execution. Something you may not know is that Towne is very active still despite his old age. One of his least known credits is his work as a consultant producer in the popular tv series Mad Men (2007-2015) by creator Matthew Weiner.
In addition to being an accomplished screenwriter, Paul Schrader is an uncompromising filmmaker who has served his craft for decades as a director. He made his mark on film history with the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) as well as Raging Bull (1980) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) by the same director.
One can't help but tip one's hat to the Cohen brothers, who direct and write the scripts for their films themselves. It's almost impossible to pick which is the best one out of the dozens of films they have created. They have been awarded two Oscars for their scripts No Country for Old Men (2007) and Fargo (1996). One of the most amusing scripts they have come up with is Big Lebowski (1988) with the unforgettable Jeff Bridges in the titular role, a movie that belongs to my list of guilty pleasures.
Alan Ball was awarded an Oscar for Best Screenplay for the film American Beauty (1999) and he has also and has also given us two of the most interesting TV series of the last twenty years, Six feet Under (2001-2005), and True Blood (2008-2014). A multi-talented director, writer and producer, we always wonder what his next project is going to be!
Callie Khouri is among the top ten women ever to win an Oscar for screenwriting, with her film Thelma and Louise (1991) directed by Ridley Scott; and thus, she has once and for all earned a place in our hearts. Along with Jane Campion, they are the only women to win this award in the 1990s. It's very hard for me to choose between these two artists, but I think Jane Campion is more deserving of being included on a list for the best directors in the world!
Charlie Kaufman always refuses to fit into the mold, and his films always try to exceed the high bar of perfection that he has set for himself. He gave us incredible scripts like Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind (2004), and Synecdoche, New York (2008) and he is the co-writer of the script for the film Being John Malkovich (1999) along with Spike Jonze.
Aaron Sorkin is one of the hardest working and most prominent screenwriters of his generation. His credits include such films as A few good men (1992) and series such as The West Wing (1996-2006), The Trial of the Chicago Seven (2020) and Newsroom (2012-2014) . He has received hundreds of awards and distinctions in his career that spans for three decades.
Spike Jonze's particular brand of humor shines in such films as the unconventional Being John Malkovich (1999), the quirky mix of romance and sci-fi Her (2013) starring Joaquin Phoenix, and the film Where the Wild Things Are (2009), a technically challenging combination of live-action, huge puppetry costumes for the actors, animatronics and CGI.
In recent decades, women writers have been taking on big projects as creators on television and we are really lucky to have them. One of them is Jenji Kohan who has created wonderful comedy series like Weeds (2005-2012) and Orange is the New Black (2013-2019) . We will be forever grateful to her for the laughs she has given us, in addition to the tears that those laughs bring to our eyes, every so often!
We cannot not mention the showbiz wunderkind, Tina Fey, who made her mark on television with the sitcom 30 Rock (2006-2013). In her credits you can find the Unbreakable Kimmi Schmidt (2015-1029) and her many years of experience on Saturday Night Live, among others.
One of the most promising screenwriters of her generation, Diablo Cody signed the script for Juno (2007), won an Oscar for her screenplay and went on to new adventures. Personally, I loved her for her work on the United States of Tara (2009-2011), featuring the incredible Toni Collette in the titular role of Tara - a woman with four distinct personalities who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Collette gives a performance recital in her multiple roles and elevates this series to new entertainment heights. This brilliant script is one of the most original things we've seen on television in the last two decades.
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