Adolph Green

American dramatist (1914–2002)

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Adolph Green

Green wearing the Kennedy Center Honors

Born| (1914-12-02)December 2, 1914

The Bronx, New York, U.S.

Died| October 23, 2002(2002-10-23) (aged 87)

New York City, U.S.

Occupation(s)| Playwright, songwriter
Years active| 1944–2002
Spouses|

Elizabeth Reitell

(m. 1941, divorced)​

Allyn Ann McLerie

(m. 1945; div. 1953)​

Phyllis Newman

(m. 1960)​

Children| Adam Green
Amanda Green

Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for musicals on Broadway and in Hollywood. Although they were not a romantic couple, they shared a unique comic genius and sophisticated wit that enabled them to forge a six-decade-long partnership. They received numerous accolades including four Tony Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Grammy Award. Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.[1] Comden and Green received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1991.

They started their career alongside Leonard Bernstein on stage where they received the New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best Musical for Wonderful Town (1953). On Broadway they wrote the music and lyrics to musicals such as On the Town (1944), Two on the Aisle (1951), Peter Pan (1954), Bells Are Ringing (1956), and Applause (1970). They won four Tony Awards as composer and lyricist for Hallelujah, Baby! (1967), On the Twentieth Century (1978), and The Will Rogers Follies (1991). As performers they starred in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958).

They gained notoriety in film collaborating with Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly and Vincente Minnelli as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Perhaps their greatest collaboration was for the film Singin' in the Rain (1952), although they received two Academy Award nominations for screenplays for the musicals The Band Wagon (1953), and It's Always Fair Weather (1955). They also wrote the scripts for the classic movie musicals The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), On the Town (1949), Auntie Mame (1958), and Bells Are Ringing (1960).

## Early life and education

[edit]

Green was born in the Bronx to Hungarian Jewish immigrants Helen (née Weiss) and Daniel Green. He was the youngest of three sons and had two older brothers, Louis (circa 1907-?) and William (circa 1910-?).[citation needed] After high school, he worked as a runner on Wall Street while he tried to make it as an actor.

## Career

[edit]

### 1938–1947

[edit]

Comden and Green collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on Wonderful Town

He met Comden through mutual friends in 1938 while she was studying drama at New York University. They formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at the Village Vanguard, a club in Greenwich Village. Among the members of the company was a young comedian named Judy Tuvim, who later changed her name to Judy Holliday, and Green's good friend, a young musician named Leonard Bernstein, whom he had met in 1937 at Camp Onota (a summer camp in Pittsfield MA where Bernstein was the music counselor), frequently accompanied them on the piano. Together, Comden and Green's act earned success and a movie offer. The Revuers traveled west in hopes of finding fame in Greenwich Village, a 1944 movie starring Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche, but their roles were so small they barely were noticed, and they quickly returned to New York. Their first Broadway effort teamed them with Bernstein for On the Town, a musical romp about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a ballet entitled Fancy Free on which Bernstein had been working with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Comden and Green wrote the lyrics and book, which included sizeable parts for themselves. Their next two musicals, Billion Dollar Baby (1945) and Bonanza Bound (1947) were not successful, and once again they headed to California, where they immediately found work at MGM.

### 1948–1969

[edit]

They wrote the screenplay for Good News (1947), starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford, The Barkleys of Broadway for Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and then adapted On the Town (1949) for Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, scrapping much of Bernstein's music at the request of Arthur Freed, who did not care for the Bernstein score. They reunited with Kelly for their most successful project, the classic Singin' in the Rain (1952), about Hollywood in the final days of the silent film era. The film was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and starred Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. Together Comden and Green received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Musical. Considered by many film historians to be the best movie musical of all time, it ranked No. 10 on the list of the 100 best American movies of the 20th century compiled by the American Film Institute in 1998.

Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain

They followed this with another hit, and another musical The Band Wagon (1953), in which the characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife team that writes the play for the show-within-a-show, were patterned after themselves. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and starred Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant. They reunited with Donen and Kelly with another musical It's Always Fair Weather (1955). They were Oscar-nominated twice, for their screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather, both of which earned them a Screen Writers Guild Award, as did On the Town. Their stage work during the next few years included the revue Two on the Aisle (1951), starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Gray, Wonderful Town (1953), an adaptation of the comedy hit My Sister Eileen, with Rosalind Russell and Edie Adams as two sisters from Ohio trying to make it in the Big Apple, and Bells Are Ringing (1956), which reunited them with Judy Holliday as an operator at a telephone answering service. The score, including the standards "Just in Time", "Long Before I Knew You," and "The Party's Over" proved to be one of their richest.

Comden and Green returned to films with Morton DaCosta's Auntie Mame (1958) starring Rosalind Russell and Minnelli's Bells Are Ringing (1961) starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin. In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977. In 1964 they wrote the screenplay for the black comedy What a Way to Go! starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, and Dick Van Dyke. The film was a commercial success but received mixed reviews.

### 1970–2002

[edit]

Among their other credits are the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan for both Broadway and television, a streamlined Die Fledermaus for the Metropolitan Opera, and stage musicals for Carol Burnett, Leslie Uggams, and Lauren Bacall, among others. Their many collaborators included Garson Kanin, Cy Coleman, Jule Styne, and André Previn. The team was not without its failures. In 1982, A Doll's Life, an exploration of what Nora did after she abandoned her husband in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, ran for only five performances, although they received Tony Award nominations for its book and score. In 1980, Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2] And, in 1981, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.[3] The following year Green appeared in the comedy My Favorite Year (1982) starring Peter O'Toole. The next year they wrote the book for the musical Singin' in the Rain for the West End in London in 1983 and then for Broadway in 1985. The production earned two Tony Award nominations including for Best Book of a Musical for Comden and Green.

In 1989, he appeared as Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein's Candide. Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991. Also in 1991 they returned to Broadway in with the musical The Will Rogers Follies. The musical focuses on the life and career of famed humorist and performer Will Rogers, using as a backdrop the Ziegfeld Follies. The production earned six Tony Awards including the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Tony Award for Best Original Score for Comden and Green.

## Personal life

[edit]

Green was married to actress Allyn Ann McLerie[4] from 1945 to 1953.[5]

Green's third wife was actress Phyllis Newman, who had understudied Holliday in Bells Are Ringing. They married in 1960, and remained so until Green's death in 2002. The couple had two children, Adam and Amanda, both of whom are songwriters.[6]

His Broadway memorial, with Lauren Bacall, Kevin Kline, Joel Grey, Kristin Chenoweth, Arthur Laurents, Peter Stone, and Betty Comden in attendance was held at the Shubert Theater on December 4, 2002.[7]

## Credits

[edit]

### Broadway

[edit]

* On the Town (1944)
* Billion Dollar Baby (1945)
* Two on the Aisle (1951)
* Wonderful Town (1953)
* Peter Pan (1954)
* Bells Are Ringing (1956)
* Say, Darling (1958)
* A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958)
* Do Re Mi (1960)
* Subways Are for Sleeping (1961)
* Fade Out – Fade In (1964)
* Hallelujah, Baby! (1967)
* Applause (1970)
* Lorelei (1974)
* On the Twentieth Century (1978)
* The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979)
* A Doll's Life (1982)
* Singin' in the Rain (1985)
* The Will Rogers Follies (1991)

### Hollywood

[edit]

* Good News (1947)
* The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
* On the Town (1949)
* Singin' in the Rain (1952)
* The Band Wagon (1953)
* It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
* Auntie Mame (1958)
* Bells Are Ringing (1960)
* What a Way to Go! (1964)
* My Favorite Year (1982)

Acting credits

* Greenwich Village (1944) as Revuer (uncredited)
* Simon (1980) as Commune Leader
* My Favorite Year (1982) as Leo Silver
* Lily in Love (1984) as Jerry Silber
* Garbo Talks (1984) as himself
* I Want to Go Home (1989) as Joey Wellman
* Candide (1991, TV Movie) as Dr. Pangloss / Martin
* Frasier (1994, TV Series) as Walter (voice)
* The Substance of Fire (1996) as Mr. Musselblatt (final film role)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|
|

1950  | WGA Award | Best Written American Musical  | The Barkleys of Broadway | Nominated
On the Town | Won
1953  | Singin' in the Rain | Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award | Best Musical  | Wonderful Town | Won
1954  | Academy Awards | Best Writing, Story and Screenplay | The Band Wagon | Nominated
WGA Award | Best Written American Musical  | Nominated
1956  | Academy Awards | Best Writing, Story and Screenplay | It's Always Fair Weather | Nominated
WGA Award | Best Written American Musical  | Nominated
1961  | Bells Are Ringing | Won
Grammy Award | Best Soundtrack Album | Nominated
1968  | Tony Award | Best Composer and Lyricist | Hallelujah, Baby! | Won
1978  | Best Book of a Musical | On the Twentieth Century | Won
Best Original Score | Won
1983  | Best Book of a Musical | A Doll's House | Nominated
Best Original Score | Nominated
1986  | Best Book of a Musical | Singin' in the Rain | Nominated
1991  | Best Original Score | The Will Rogers Follies | Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award | Best Musical  | Won
1995  | National Board of Review Award | Distinction in Screenwriting  | Won
2001  | WGA Award | Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement  | Won

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The New York Times, March 3, 1981 – 26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame
2. ^ "Adolph Green at the Songwriters Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
3. ^ The New York Times, March 3, 1981 – 26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame
4. ^ Amanda Vaill (May 6, 2008). Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins. Broadway Books. p. 200\. ISBN 978-0-7679-0421-6. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
5. ^ McPhee, Ryan. "Stage and Screen Star Allyn Ann McLerie Dies at 91" Playbill, June 3, 2018
6. ^ "Adolph Green, Playwright and Lyricist Who Teamed With Comden, Dies at 87"The New York Times, October 25, 2002
7. ^ "A Broadway Memorial? That's Entertainment"The New York Times, December 4, 2002

## References

[edit]

* Off Stage, a memoir by Betty Comden published in 1995

## External links

[edit]

* Biography portal

* Adolph Green at the Internet Broadway Database
* Adolph Green at Playbill Vault
* Adolph Green at IMDb
* Adolph Green at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
* Adolph Green papers, 1944–2002, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
* Comden and Green papers, 1933–2003, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
* New York Public Library Blog on Comden and Green's Unproduced Screenplay Wonderland

* v
* t
* e

Works by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Musicals|

* On the Town
* Billion Dollar Baby
* Two on the Aisle
* Wonderful Town
* Peter Pan
* Bells Are Ringing
* Say, Darling
* A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* Do Re Mi
* Subways Are for Sleeping
* Fade Out – Fade In
* Hallelujah, Baby!
* Lorelei
* On the Twentieth Century
* A Doll's Life
* The Will Rogers Follies

Films written|

* Good News (1947)
* The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
* On the Town (1949)
* Singin' in the Rain (1952)
* The Band Wagon (1953)
* It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
* Auntie Mame (1958)
* Bells Are Ringing (1960)
* What a Way to Go! (1964)

Awards for Adolph Green

* v
* t
* e

Kennedy Center Honorees (1990s)

1990|

* Dizzy Gillespie
* Katharine Hepburn
* Risë Stevens
* Jule Styne
* Billy Wilder

1991|

* Roy Acuff
* Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* Fayard and Harold Nicholas
* Gregory Peck
* Robert Shaw

1992|

* Lionel Hampton
* Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
* Ginger Rogers
* Mstislav Rostropovich
* Paul Taylor

1993|

* Johnny Carson
* Arthur Mitchell
* Sir Georg Solti
* Stephen Sondheim
* Marion Williams

1994|

* Kirk Douglas
* Aretha Franklin
* Morton Gould
* Harold Prince
* Pete Seeger

1995|

* Jacques d'Amboise
* Marilyn Horne
* B.B. King
* Sidney Poitier
* Neil Simon

1996|

* Edward Albee
* Benny Carter
* Johnny Cash
* Jack Lemmon
* Maria Tallchief

1997|

* Lauren Bacall
* Bob Dylan
* Charlton Heston
* Jessye Norman
* Edward Villella

1998|

* ~~Bill Cosby~~
* Fred Ebb and John Kander
* Willie Nelson
* André Previn
* Shirley Temple Black

1999|

* Victor Borge
* Sean Connery
* Judith Jamison
* Jason Robards
* Stevie Wonder

* Complete list
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical

1950–1975|

* South Pacific by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan (1950)
* Hello, Dolly! by Michael Stewart (1964)
* Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein (1965)
* Company by George Furth (1971)
* Two Gentlemen of Verona by John Guare and Mel Shapiro (1972)
* A Little Night Music by Hugh Wheeler (1973)
* Candide by Hugh Wheeler (1974)
* Shenandoah by James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell and Philip Rose (1975)

1976–2000|

* A Chorus Line by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante (1976)
* Annie by Thomas Meehan (1977)
* On the Twentieth Century by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1978)
* Sweeney Todd by Hugh Wheeler (1979)
* Evita by Tim Rice (1980)
* Woman of the Year by Peter Stone (1981)
* Dreamgirls by Tom Eyen (1982)
* Cats by T. S. Eliot (1983)
* La Cage aux Folles by Harvey Fierstein (1984)
* Big River by William Hauptman (1985)
* The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes (1986)
* Les Misérables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (1987)
* Into the Woods by James Lapine (1988)
* No Award (1989)
* City of Angels by Larry Gelbart (1990)
* The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman (1991)
* Falsettos by William Finn and James Lapine (1992)
* Kiss of the Spider Woman by Terrence McNally (1993)
* Passion by James Lapine (1994)
* Sunset Boulevard by Don Black and Christopher Hampton (1995)
* Rent by Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Titanic by Peter Stone (1997)
* Ragtime by Terrence McNally (1998)
* Parade by Alfred Uhry (1999)
* James Joyce's The Dead by Richard Nelson (2000)

2001–present|

* The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (2001)
* Urinetown by Greg Kotis (2002)
* Hairspray by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell (2003)
* Avenue Q by Jeff Whitty (2004)
* The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by Rachel Sheinkin (2005)
* The Drowsy Chaperone by Bob Martin and Don McKellar (2006)
* Spring Awakening by Steven Sater (2007)
* Passing Strange by Stew (2008)
* Billy Elliot the Musical by Lee Hall (2009)
* Memphis by Joe DiPietro (2010)
* The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (2011)
* Once by Enda Walsh (2012)
* Matilda the Musical by Dennis Kelly (2013)
* A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder by Robert L. Freedman (2014)
* Fun Home by Lisa Kron (2015)
* Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
* Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson (2017)
* The Band's Visit by Itamar Moses (2018)
* Tootsie by Robert Horn (2019)
* Jagged Little Pill by Diablo Cody (2020/21)
* A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson (2022)
* Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire (2023)
* Suffs by Shaina Taub (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Original Score

1947–1975|

* Street Scene by Kurt Weill (1947)
* Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter (1949)
* South Pacific by Richard Rodgers (1950)
* Call Me Madam by Irving Berlin (1951)
* No Strings by Richard Rodgers (1962)
* Oliver! by Lionel Bart (1963)
* Hello, Dolly! by Jerry Herman (1964)
* Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (1965)
* Man of La Mancha by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion (1966)
* Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb (1967)
* Hallelujah, Baby! by Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1968)
* Company by Stephen Sondheim (1971)
* Follies by Stephen Sondheim (1972)
* A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim (1973)
* Gigi by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner (1974)
* The Wiz by Charlie Smalls (1975)

1976–2000|

* A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (1976)
* Annie by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin (1977)
* On the Twentieth Century by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1978)
* Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim (1979)
* Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (1980)
* Woman of the Year by John Kander and Fred Ebb (1981)
* Nine by Maury Yeston (1982)
* Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber and T. S. Eliot (1983)
* La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Herman (1984)
* Big River by Roger Miller (1985)
* The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes (1986)
* Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil (1987)
* Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim (1988)
* No Award (1989)
* City of Angels by Cy Coleman and David Zippel (1990)
* The Will Rogers Follies by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (1991)
* Falsettos by William Finn (1992)
* Kiss of the Spider Woman by John Kander and Fred Ebb / The Who's Tommy by Pete Townshend (1993)
* Passion by Stephen Sondheim (1994)
* Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Christopher Hampton (1995)
* Rent by Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Titanic by Maury Yeston (1997)
* Ragtime by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (1998)
* Parade by Jason Robert Brown (1999)
* Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (2000)

2001–present|

* The Producers by Mel Brooks (2001)
* Urinetown by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis (2002)
* Hairspray by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (2003)
* Avenue Q by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (2004)
* The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel (2005)
* The Drowsy Chaperone by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison (2006)
* Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater (2007)
* In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2008)
* Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (2009)
* Memphis by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro (2010)
* The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (2011)
* Newsies by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman (2012)
* Kinky Boots by Cyndi Lauper (2013)
* The Bridges of Madison County by Jason Robert Brown (2014)
* Fun Home by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron (2015)
* Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
* Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2017)
* The Band's Visit by David Yazbek (2018)
* Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (2019)
* A Christmas Carol by Christopher Nightingale (2020/21)
* Six by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (2022)
* Kimberly Akimbo by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire (2023)
* Suffs by Shaina Taub (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Musical

* Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich, & Albert Hackett (1948)
* Adolph Green & Betty Comden (1949)
* Sidney Sheldon (1950)
* Alan Jay Lerner (1951)
* Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1952)
* Helen Deutsch (1953)
* Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, & Dorothy Kingsley (1954)
* Daniel Fuchs, & Isobel Lennart (1955)
* Ernest Lehman (1956)
* John Patrick (1957)
* Alan Jay Lerner (1958)
* Melville Shavelson, & Jack Rose (1959)
* Betty Comden, & Adolph Green (1960)
* Ernest Lehman (1961)
* Marion Hargrove (1962)
* Not Awarded (1963)
* Bill Walsh, & Don DaGradi (1964)
* Ernest Lehman (1965)
* Not Awarded (1966)
* Richard Morris (1967)
* Isobel Lennart (1968)

* v
* t
* e

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

1950s|

* Sonya Levien (1952)
* Dudley Nichols (1953)
* Robert Riskin (1954)
* Julius Epstein & Philip Epstein and Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich (1955)
* Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder (1956)
* John Lee Mahin (1957)
* Nunnally Johnson (1958)
* Norman Krasna (1959)

1960s|

* George Seaton (1960)
* Philip Dunne (1961)
* Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1962)
* John Huston (1963)
* Sidney Buchman (1964)
* Isobel Lennart (1965)
* Richard Brooks (1966)
* Casey Robinson (1967)
* Carl Foreman (1968)
* Dalton Trumbo (1969)

1970s|

* James Poe (1970)
* Ernest Lehman (1971)
* William Rose (1972)
* Paddy Chayefsky (1973)
* Preston Sturges (1974)
* Michael Wilson (1975)
* Samson Raphaelson (1976)
* Edward Anhalt (1977)
* Neil Simon (1978)
* Billy Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond (1979)

1980s|

* Ben Hecht (1980)
* Paul Osborn (1981)
* Lamar Trotti (1982)
* Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank (1983)
* William Goldman (1984)
* Waldo Salt (1985)
* Woody Allen (1986)
* Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr. (1987)
* Ring Lardner Jr. (1988)
* Donald Ogden Stewart (1989)

1990s|

* Alvin Sargent (1990)
* Frank Pierson (1991)
* Horton Foote (1992)
* Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1993)
* Charles Bennett (1994)
* Daniel Taradash (1995)
* Robert Towne (1996)
* Bo Goldman (1997)
* Paul Schrader (1998)
* Jean-Claude Carrière (1999)

2000s|

* Betty Comden and Adolph Green (2000)
* Blake Edwards (2001)
* Mel Brooks (2002)
* John Michael Hayes (2003)
* David Mamet (2004)
* Lawrence Kasdan (2005)
* Robert Benton (2006)
* Budd Schulberg (2007)
* No Award (2008)
* Barry Levinson (2009)

2010s|

* Steven Zaillian (2010)
* Eric Roth (2011)
* Tom Stoppard (2012)
* Paul Mazursky (2013)
* Harold Ramis (2014)
* Elaine May (2015)
* Oliver Stone (2016)
* James L. Brooks (2017)
* Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (2018)
* Nancy Meyers (2019)

2020s|

* No Award (2020)
* No Award (2021)
* Charlie Kaufman (2022)
* Walter Hill (2023)
* David Lynch (2024)

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