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William Goldman, the famous playwright known for writing The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, and All The President’s Men has died at 87 years old.
According to The Washington Post, Goldman passed away overnight in his Manhattan home surrounded by family and friends. His daughter, Jenny, confirmed that he died of complications from colon cancer and pneumonia.
Goldman was married once and leaves behind two children and his domestic partner, Susan Burden. Here’s what you need to know about his family:
1. Goldman Was Married to Ilene Jones, a Former Model, From 1961-1991
There is a shortage of perfect movies in the world. William Goldman’s Princess Bride is one of them.
Rest in peace to a giant of creativity.
Goldman married Ilene Jones in 1961. Jones was a model for Neiman Marcus in her earlier years, though little is known about her life with Goldman. They divorced in 1991.
According to a People article from 1979, Jones was a photographer, and she and “Bill” lived in Manhattan together with their children.
2. Goldman & Jones Had Two Children Together, Jenny Rebecca & Susanna
RIP, William Goldman, who delivered the definitive line about Hollywood (and so many other things):
“Nobody knows anything,”
Ain’t that the damn truth.
Goldman and Jones had two children together during their marriage. Their oldest was Jenny Rebecca Goldman, born in 1962, and their youngest was Susanna Goldman, born in 1965.
Susanna Goldman died in 2015.
3. Goldman’s Brother, James Goldman, Was a Screenwriter & Playwright of His Own Accord
William Goldman is the patron saint of screenwriting.
Everything he wrote, both for the screen and about the trade, is fucking gospel.
Study it, master it, understand you will likely never measure up to him.
Nothing any of us will write today will be worthy of him.
Goldman’s brother, James, was a famous screenwriter and playwright just like Goldman was. He was the author of The Lion in Winter, which later won an Academy Award, and he also wrote the book that later inspired the musical Follies.
Goldman died in 1998 of a heart attack at 78 years old.
4. Goldman’s Father, Maurice Clarence Goldman, Was a Successful Businessman
Oh no! William Goldman wasn’t just one of Hollywood’s finest ever screenwriters, he was one its best writers about screenwriters. What a career he had, a movie giant has left us.
Goldman’s father, Maurice Clarence Goldman was reportedly a businessman in Chicago who was successful for a number of years until his alcoholism impacted his business negatively.
In William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller, by Sean Egan, Goldman said, “He came home to live and he was in his pajamas for the last five years of his life.” Goldman’s father eventually killed himself when Goldman was 15 years old, and Goldman’s mother, Marion, had to raise the boys on her own.
5. Goldman Never Re-Married, But Left Behind His Domestic Partner of 19 Years, Susan Burden
And hundreds & hundreds of screenwriting teachers owe an unplayable debt to William Goldman for doing their job for them.
At the time of his death, Goldman was unmarried. However, The Washington Post reports that Goldman was with his longtime domestic partner named Susan Burden for 19 years.
He also leaves behind a grandson.