Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She wrote the screenplays for the films The Black Stallion (1979) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the latter of which earned her the Saturn Award for Best Writing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Mathison later wrote The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), based on Lynne Reid Banks's 1980 children's novel of the same name, and Kundun (1997), a biographical-drama film about the Dalai Lama. Her final film credit was The BFG (2016), which marked her third collaboration with film director Steven Spielberg.
Early years Melissa Marie Mathison was born on June 3, 1950, in Los Angeles, one of five siblings. Her father, Richard Randolph Mathison, was the Los Angeles bureau chief of Newsweek. Her mother was Margaret Jean (née Kieffer) Mathison, a food writer and convenience-foods entrepreneur. After graduating from Providence High School in 1968, Mathison attended the University of California, Berkeley. Her family was friendly with Francis Ford Coppola, whose children were babysat by Mathison. Coppola offered her a job as his assistant on The Godfather Part II (1974), an opportunity for which she left her studies at UC Berkeley.
With Coppola's encouragement, she wrote a script for The Black Stallion, adapted from the novel, that caught Steven Spielberg's attention."Melissa Mathison: a masterful storyteller who brought ET to life", The Guardian, November 5, 2015.
Screenwriting and production credits Mathison wrote the screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) in collaboration with Steven Spielberg. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The script was based on a story, written by John Sayles, that Spielberg provided to Mathison during the filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Spielberg attributes the line "E.T. phone home" to Mathison. She collaborated again with Spielberg for The BFG (2016), her final film, which was dedicated in her memory. She also had film credits for The Escape Artist (1982) and The Indian in the Cupboard (1995).
Dalai Lama Mathison met the Dalai Lama in 1990 when she was writing the script for Kundun (1997) and developed a lasting friendship with him. She continued to work as an activist for Tibetan freedom and was on the board of the International Campaign for Tibet.Melissa Mathison, A Conversation with the Dalai Lama , Rolling Stone, July 21, 2011
Personal life and death Mathison had a relationship with Francis Ford Coppola while working as his assistant on The Godfather Part II, an affair that lasted through the production of Apocalypse Now. From 1983 to 2004, she was married to Harrison Ford; the couple had two children. She died on November 4, 2015, in Los Angeles, aged 65, from neuroendocrine cancer.
Screenwriting filmography Year Title Genre Notes1979 The Black Stallion Family-adventure 1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Fantasy-adventure-science fiction Saturn Award for Best WritingNominated—Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, (1983)The line "E.T. phone home." is ranked 15th among the top 100 quotations of U.S. cinema by the American Film Institute.The Escape Artist Drama 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie Science fiction-thriller Segment 2, "Kick the Can"; credited as "Josh Rogan"1991 Son of the Morning Star Western Television film1995 The Indian in the Cupboard Family-adventure 1997 Kundun Biographical-drama 1998 The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale Animated, Family 2008 Ponyo Animated, family-adventure Storyline consultant, English-language translation2016 The BFG Family-fantasy-adventure Posthumous release Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Writing
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