Celebrity Biographies
Robert getchell
He received Oscar nominations for “Alicia Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “This Land Is My Land,” remaining active until the 1990s. Screenwriter Robert Getchell died at the age of 81 on October 21 in Monterey, California, without more details were released.
Born in 1936 in Kansas City, Robert Getchell had the same name as the currently successful tenor, although there is no family relationship. Graduating in 1965 in English from the University of Missouri, he was determined to teach literature in the classroom. In the end he worked as a freelance journalist before being recruited by Martin Scorsese for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore , the film about the widow determined to become a singer, starring Ellen Burstyn and Kris Kristofferson in 1974. Although the female star won the Award from the Academy, he was snatched by Robert Towne for whom he is considered the model of all subsequent scripts, written for Chinatown .
He also had no luck two years later, when he got a new opportunity to win it, in the adapted screenplay category, for the biopic of folk singer and homeless man Woody Guthrie, played by David Carradine . Here he also had a good excuse, the other great teacher, William Goldman , took it from him, with All the President’s Men , an exemplary translation from a book to the screens.
After Dearest Mom , about Christina’s traumatic relationship with her mother, the adoptive daughter of Joan Crawford , she brought back the character from her first job, Alice Hyatt, this time played by Linda Lavin in Alice , a sitcom that was enormously successful, especially in United States, where it aired from 1976 to 1985.
His filmography is completed with Sweet Dreams , with Jessica Lange playing the real singer Patsy Cline, The Assassin , American version of Nikita, Die Hard , by Luc Besson , This Boy’s Life , based on the memoirs of the writer Tobias Wolff , and The Client , based on the novel by John Grisham . The latter dates from 1994, the year in which she retired.