Alice Arlen (November 6, 1940 – February 29, 2016) was an American screenwriter, best known for ''

Silkwood ''Silkwood'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was adapted from the book ''Who Killed Karen Silkwood?'' by ''Ro ...

'' (1983), which she wrote with

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...

. Her other film credits include the scripts of ''

Alamo Bay ''Alamo Bay'' is a 1985 American drama film about a Vietnam veteran who clashes with Vietnamese immigrants who move to his Texas bay hometown. The film was directed by Louis Malle, and stars Amy Madigan and Ed Harris. Future Texas A&M and Dalla ...

'' (1985), ''

Cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

'' (1989), ''

The Weight of Water ''The Weight of Water'' is a 1997 novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction based on the Smuttynose Island murders, which took place in 1873. The book was adapted for a film of the same name, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and ...

'' (2000) and ''

Then She Found Me ''Then She Found Me'' is a 2007 American comedy drama film directed by Helen Hunt. The screenplay by Hunt, Alice Arlen, and Victor Levin is very loosely based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman. The film marked Hunt's feature fil ...

'' (2007).

Early life

In 1940, Arlen was born as Alice Reeve. Arlen's father was Jay Frederick Reeve, a lawyer. Arlen's mother was Josephine Medill Patterson, a journalist. After Arlen's mother married

Ivan Albright Ivan Le Lorraine Albright (February 20, 1897 – November 18, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and print-maker most renowned for his self-portraits, character studies, and still lifes. Due to his technique and dark subject matter, he is of ...

, Arlen and her brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

took the surname of Albright.

Education

In 1962, Arlene graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 1981, Arlene earned an MFA degree from the

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York (state), New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, ...

Career

Arlen worked for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. Arlen met

, with whom she wrote the screenplay for ''

'' (1983), for which they were nominated for an Oscar for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) 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 ...

. Arlen worked with director

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down", Malle made document ...

, writing the script for ''

'' (1985). Arlen and Ephron later worked together on ''

'' (1989), which was directed by

Susan Seidelman Susan Seidelman (; born December 11, 1952) is an American film director, producer, and writer. She is known for mixing comedy with drama and blending genres in her feature-film work. She is also notable for her art direction and pop-cultural refe ...

. Later, Arlen also wrote the screenplay for ''

'' (2000), and

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying newlywed Jamie Buchman in the sitcom '' Mad Abou ...

's first feature film as director, ''

'' (2007).

Filmography

(with

) (1983) *

(1985) *

(with

) (1989) (also Executive Producer) * A Shock to the System (Associate Producer) (1990) *

(with Christopher Kyle) (2000) *

A Thief of Time ''A Thief of Time'' is a crime novel by American writer Tony Hillerman, the eighth in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series, first published in 1988. It was adapted for television as part of the PBS ''Mystery!'' series in 20 ...

(2004) (TV) *

(with Victor Levin and

) (2007)

Personal life

Arlen married

James Hoge James Fulton Hoge Jr. (December 25, 1935 – September 19, 2023) was an American journalist and magazine publisher who was the editor of ''Foreign Affairs'' and the Peter G. Peterson Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. His principal areas o ...

. They had three children. In 1971, Arlen divorced. In 1972, Arlen married Michael J. Arlen and later moved to New York. In 2016, Arlen died at her home in Manhattan, New York. She was 75 years old.

Family tree

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arlen, Alice 1940 births 2016 deaths American women screenwriters American women journalists Screenwriters from Chicago Journalists from Illinois Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Radcliffe College alumni Medill–Patterson family Writers from Manhattan Screenwriters from New York City Albright family