William Henry Lancaster (November 17, 1947 – January 4, 1997) was an American screenwriter and actor. The son of screen legend

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...

, he was perhaps best known for his screenplays for ''

The Bad News Bears ''The Bad News Bears'' is a 1976 American sports comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie and written by Bill Lancaster. It stars Walter Matthau as an alcoholic ex-baseball pitcher who becomes a coach for a youth baseball team known as the Bear ...

'' and '' The Thing''.

Early life

He was born November 17, 1947, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the son of

(1913–1994) and Norma Anderson (1917–1988). He contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

at an early age, leaving one leg shorter than the other.

Career

Lancaster, who resembled his famous father at the time, guest-starred in an episode of the television series ''

The Big Valley ''The Big Valley'' is an American Western television series that originally aired from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 on ABC. The series is set on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The one-hour epis ...

'' in 1967. Lancaster played the role of "King", the boyfriend of a murdered college student in '' The Midnight Man'' (1974), a mystery film starring and co-directed by his father. Lancaster's best-known work is his adapted screenplay for

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

's '' The Thing''. He also penned the original screenplays for two of ''

'' films. In 1982, he worked on a first-draft script of an adaptation of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's novel '' Firestarter'' for Carpenter to direct. Months later of the same year, Carpenter hired Bill Phillips to work on a rewrite of Lancaster's draft. When ''The Thing'' did not match the studio's financial expectations, Universal replaced Carpenter with Mark L. Lester and both drafts were scrapped in favor of Stanley Mann's draft. Lancaster is featured in the documentary '' The Thing: Terror Takes Shape'', found on the collector's edition

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

of ''The Thing''. Lancaster states that he did not think ''

Who Goes There? ''Who Goes There?'' is a 1938 science fiction horror novella by American author John W. Campbell, written under the pen name Don A. Stuart. Campbell renewed the copyright in 1965. Its story follows a group of people trapped in a scientific out ...

'' was a "great" story, but that he responded to the tale's sense of claustrophobia and paranoia. The documentary is dedicated to him.

Personal life

Lancaster was married to Kippie Kovacs, daughter of the comedian

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his dea ...

. They had one child, daughter Keigh Kristin.

Death

Lancaster died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 49. His ashes were buried at

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary is a cemetery and Morgue, mortuary located in the Westwood, Los Angeles, Westwood area of Los Angeles. It includes a crematory for cremation services. Its location is at 1218 Glendon Av ...

, where his father's ashes are also interred. The ashes of his daughter Keigh, who died in 2017 at age 51, were buried with her father's in the same plot.

Filmography

Screenplays

*''

'' (1976) *''

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan ''The Bad News Bears Go to Japan'' (also known as ''The Bad News Bears 3'') is a 1978 American sport comedy film released by Paramount Pictures and was the third and last of a series, following ''The Bad News Bears'' and '' The Bad News Bears in ...

'' (1978) (Also co-producer) *'' The Thing'' (1982) *'' Firestarter'' (1984) (earlier unused screenplay)

Acting

*''

'' (1967) – Second Boy *''

Moses the Lawgiver ''Moses the Lawgiver'' is a six-hour television miniseries filmed in 1973/74 and starring Burt Lancaster as Moses. It was an ITC/ RAI co-production filmed in Rome and on location in Israel and Morocco. Many of the writers, cast and crew contr ...

'' (1974, TV Mini-Series) – Young Moses *'' The Midnight Man'' (1974) – King

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, William Henry 1947 births 1997 deaths American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Los Angeles Male actors from Greater Los Angeles 20th-century American male actors Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Writers Guild of America Award winners