Novelist, playwright, and screenwriter William Goldman passed away on Thursday, November 15, 2018. He was 87 years old.

Goldman was a two-time Academy Award winner for writing the scripts of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men. He’s also celebrated for writing the fairy tale The Princess Bride and the thriller Marathon Man.

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Goldman was born on August 12, 1931. In 1952 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College where he was the editor of the school’s literary magazine. He served in the army, then got a Master of Arts degree at Columbia University in 1956 and published his first novel, The Temple of Gold, a year later.

Goldman wrote several novels during the 1960s, including Soldier in the Rain and Boys and Girls Together. He wrote the screenplay adaptation Harper, based on the book The Moving Target, then gained significant praise and attention for the crime drama Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

In the early ’70s, Goldman wrote his two most famous novels, though in very different genres. First was the romantic fairy tale The Princess Bride, under the penname S. Morgenstern, which was followed by the thriller Marathon Man. Goldman crafted one of his best screenplays in 1976, the Watergate exposé All the President’s Men.

In 1987 he adapted The Princess Bride for the big screen, which became a beloved modern classic for kids of the ’80s. His screenplay work hit several impressive high notes from the ’90s to early 2000s with Misery, Chaplin, Maverick, The Ghost in the Darkness, The General’s Daughter, Hearts in Atlantis, and Dreamcatcher. Goldman’s final credit was for the 2018 short, 5 Minutes.