Barry Morrow (born June 12, 1948) is an American screenwriter and producer. He wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged ...

''. He is the father of Emmy Award-winning animator, writer, and storyboard artist,

Clayton Morrow Clayton McKenzie Morrow (born July 3, 1974) is an American animator, writer, director, storyboard artist and storyboard director. He is the son of Oscar and Emmy winning screenwriter Barry Morrow. Life and career Morrow was born in July 197 ...

, and father-in-law of animator and storyboard artist, Cindy Morrow. Morrow was born in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Po ...

and studied at St. Olaf College. Several of Morrow's scripts are inspired by real people, especially people with disabilities and/or extraordinary talents. These include the savant played by

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...

in the film ''

'', inspired by the real savant Kim Peek; and mentally disabled

Bill Sackter William Sackter (April 13, 1913 – June 16, 1983) was an American man with an intellectual disability whose fame as the subject of two television movies and a feature-length documentary helped change national attitudes on persons with dis ...

, played by Mickey Rooney in the TV movie ''

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

''. Both works received writing Oscar, Emmy and other awards for Morrow and for the actors who portrayed them. Morrow gave his

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

statuette as a gift to Kim Peek. Morrow wrote CBS's '' Bill: On His Own'' (1983) and his relationship with Sackter is presented in the feature-length 2008 documentary ''A Friend Indeed – The Bill Sackter Story''. Morrow put his Oscar statuette on permanent loan to Salt Lake City in memory of Kim Peek, and put forward the money for the Peek Award, which "pays tribute to artists, media makers, and film subjects who are positively impacting our society’s perception of people with disabilities" and is given out by the Utah Film Center. Morrow is a member of the

Arc of the United States The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities. Since then, the organization has estab ...

, the National Association of Social Workers, and the

Autism Society of America The Autism Society of America (ASA) was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland and Ivar Lovaas together with Ruth C. Sullivan and a small group of other parents of children with autism. Its original name was the National Society for Autistic Childre ...

. In 2014, his son, Clayton, won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually beginning in 2008 to an animated series or special of 15 minutes or shorter in length. In 2008 and 2009, the category was ca ...

for the Mickey Mouse short film "O Sole Minnie" (2013). He is an avid golfer, and is known to play the majority of his golf rounds using an eight club bag of hickory stick (wooden shaft) golf clubs made pre-1940.Lorne Rubenstein – Moe and Me: Encounters with Moe Norman, Golf's Mysterious Genius 2012 p68 "Barry Morrow wrote Rain Man and received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Morrow had only recently taken up golf when he read the cover story about Moe that David Owen had written in GolfDigest's December 1995 issue."

References

External links

* 1948 births Living people American male screenwriters American film producers St. Olaf College alumni Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners {{US-screen-writer-stub