Barbara Benedek (born 1948) is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

best known for co-writing the 1983 film '' The Big Chill'', for which she received a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

and several award nominations.

Career

Benedek was a psychiatric researcher prior to becoming interested in screenwriting. Her first entertainment industry job was as

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

storywriter and editor for Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions. Her first film screenplay was for the 1983 comedy-drama film '' The Big Chill''. For her work on the film she received, along with co-writer

Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Edward Kasdan (born January 14, 1949) is an American filmmaker. He is the co-writer of the ''Star Wars'' films '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), '' Return of the Jedi'' (1983), '' The Force Awakens'' (2015), and '' Solo: A Star Wars ...

, the

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America. Woody Allen holds the record for most wins and nominations for the award, with five wins out of twenty ...

in 1984. She was also nominated for the

Academy Award 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 ...

Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners and nominees 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins ...

BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to a screenwriter for a specific film. The British Academy of ...

, and was runner-up for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award. She went on to write screenplays for ''

Immediate Family The immediate family is a defined group of relations, used in rules or laws to determine which members of a person's family are affected by those rules. It normally includes a person's parents, siblings, spouse, and children. It can contain other ...

'' (1989) and ''

Men Don't Leave ''Men Don't Leave'' is a 1990 American comedy-drama film starring Jessica Lange as a housewife who, after the death of her husband, moves with her two sons to Baltimore. Chris O'Donnell, Arliss Howard, Joan Cusack, Charlie Korsmo and Kathy ...

'' (1990). In his two-star review of ''Men Don't Leave'',

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

speculated that Benedek's screenplay started out "a good deal more realistic and honest," but that it was subject to detrimental revisions in the filmmaking process. Benedek was an uncredited writer for the 1990 film ''

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...

''. According to director

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' until he developed the T ...

, "We had five different writers on ''Pretty Woman'' ... In all the rewrites, the part of Vivian, the prostitute, came quite easily. It was the character of the businessman, Edward Lewis, that presented the most problems. Only Barbara Benedek, the sole woman writer in the group, got the voice of Edward down by creating a

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

-style executive with a vulnerable side." In 1995 Benedek wrote the screenplay for ''

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Hafren, known in English as Sabrina, a British princess in Welsh mythology ...

'', a remake of a 1954 film of the same name. It began as a fully original screenplay. Due to similarities to the 1954 film, producer

Scott Rudin Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American film, television and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award Best Picture-winning ''No Country for Old Men'', as well as '' Uncut Gems'', '' Lady Bird'', '' Fences'', ''The Girl with ...

suggested adapting that story instead.

Filmography

*'' The Big Chill'' (1983) *''

'' (1989) *''

'' (1990) *''

'' (1995)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedek, Barbara American women screenwriters Living people 1948 births Writers Guild of America Award winners 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women