Naomi Foner ( Achs; born March 4, 1946) is an American screenwriter and director. She is the mother of actor and actress Maggie and

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He ...

Early life and education

Foner was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, the daughter of doctors Ruth (''née'' Silbowitz; 1920–1968) and Samuel Achs (1919–2014). Her parents were both of Jewish ancestry. Her aunt was Freda (Silbowitz) Hertz (1915–2013), a lawyer. She was raised in a family of "high-achieving

New York Jews Jews in New York City comprise approximately 9 percent of the city's population, making the Jewish community the largest in the world outside of Israel. , 1.6 million Jews lived in the five boroughs of New York City, and over 2.2 million Jews ...

." Her

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe (Latvia and Poland). She attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in New York City, graduating with a BA degree in English. She later earned an MA degree in developmental psychology from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

She has written the screenplays for several feature films, including '' Running on Empty'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

and won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for the same category), ''

Losing Isaiah ''Losing Isaiah'' is a 1995 American drama film starring Jessica Lange and Halle Berry, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. It is based on the novel of the same name by Seth Margolis. The screenplay is written by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal. The origin ...

'', and most recently ''

Bee Season ''Bee Season'' is a 2000 novel by Myla Goldberg. It follows a young girl as she attempts to win the national spelling bee, and the repercussions of her success on the other members of her family. Plot summary Eleven-year-old Eliza Naumann is th ...

.'' She was the Naomi referenced in the line "...what about Naomi?" at the end of each '' Love of Chair'' segment of ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'', where she was an associate producer for two seasons. In 2013, she made her directorial debut with '' Very Good Girls'', starring

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomin ...

and

Elizabeth Olsen Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Olsen began acting at age four. She starred in her debut film role in the thriller ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' in 2011, for which she wa ...

, which premiered at the 2013

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

before attaining online and theatrical distribution in the U.S. with

Tribeca Film The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was fo ...

. She collaborated on a script for an American-Chinese co-production titled ''Moon Flower of Flying Tigers'', which was to be co-produced by Ann An and Paula Wagner and based upon the book by Gao Demin.

Personal life

Naomi Foner's first husband was

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstruc ...

, a historian and Columbia University professor, whom she married in 1965 and divorced in 1977. Her second marriage, 1977–2009, was to film director

Stephen Gyllenhaal Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal (; born October 4, 1949) is an American film director and poet. He is the father of actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Personal life Gyllenhaal was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Virginia Lowrie (née Childs) and ...

. They have collaborated professionally and have two children together, actors

Maggie Gyllenhaal Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenh ...

(b. 1977) and

(b. 1980).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllenhaal, Naomi Foner 1946 births Living people American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent Barnard College alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bor ...

Jewish American writers Television producers from New York City Writers from New York City American women screenwriters Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners American women film directors Film directors from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) American women television producers Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women American Ashkenazi Jews