Deric Washburn 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 ...

. Washburn graduated from Harvard College in 1959. He began his career as a playwright, penning the off-Broadway plays ''Ginger Anne'' and ''The Love Nest''. He is best known for having written the original screenplay of '' The Deer Hunter'' after having co-written the story with

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...

, with whom he had previously worked on scripting the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film, ''

Silent Running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American ecological-themed science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all forests on Earth have b ...

'' in 1971. The film won the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

in 1978. Washburn and Cimino spent three days writing the story, and then Washburn spent a month writing the script. Cimino then tried to deny him screenwriting credit. Washburn went to arbitration and was given full credit.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1971) * '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978) * '' The Border'' (1982) * '' Extreme Prejudice'' (1987)

Unproduced scripts

*''Heavy Dust'', adapted from ''Manhunt'' by

Peter Maas __notoc__ Peter Maas (June 27, 1929 – August 23, 2001) was an American journalist and author. He was born in New York City and attended Duke University. Maas had Dutch and Irish ancestry. He was the biographer of Frank Serpico, a New York ...

*''Gun for Sale'', adapted from the book of the same name by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

*''Warrior'', based on a screenplay by Dale Herd and Winston Jones *''The Murder of Napoleon'', adapted from the book of the same name by Ben Weider and David Hapgood *''Yamashita's Gold'', based on the alleged war loot stolen by the Japanese during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Awards

As a member of the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

playwriting project, he received a $1500.00 award from the Edward Albee Foundation in 1964. As a writer, Washburn was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Writing (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 ...

and a WGA Award for "Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen" for '' The Deer Hunter'', along with

Quinn Redeker Quinn Redeker (May 2, 1936 – December 20, 2022) was an American actor and screenwriter, best known for his work on daytime dramas. Life and career Redeker and Lou Garfinkle co-authored the story for the 1978 film '' The Deer Hunter''. Throu ...

, Louis A. Garfinkle and

References

External links

* American male screenwriters Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Harvard College alumni 1937 births {{US-screen-writer-1930s-stub