Screenwriter David Zelag Goodman died 26 September 2011 of progressive supranuclear palsy, a brain disorder. Born 15 January 1930 in New York City, he shared an Oscar nomination with Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor for co-writing the screenplay for 1970’s Lovers and Other Strangers.
After earning a degree in English from Queens College and studying drama at Yale University, he started writing for the stage, including a 1954 off-Broadway production of his antiwar drama High Named Today. His first film-writing credit is for 1959’s horrific The Stranglers of Bombay.
Reporting his death, the Los Angeles Times quotes Goodman’s friend, film and television producer Zev Braun: “He was a man for all seasons. He went from biblical scholar [as a young man] to playwright to television and motion pictures and did some of the best of the ’70s movies. That was when he was really on fire, so to speak.”
Braun also said Goodman was a “go-to writer” for producers who were having trouble with scripts. He could immediately pinpoint what was wrong. “It’s his integrity as a writer that made him a good writer, not only his talent. He also had integrity as a person. Anybody who knew him would tell you that.”
Goodman’s other genre credits include the screenplay of Logan’s Run (1976) and co-writing the screenplay of Eyes of Laura Mars (1978).
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, his daughter, and his sister.