Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Goldman has written the scripts behind some of the most critically and popularly-acclaimed films of all time. Now an octogenarian, Goldman is still an active player in Hollywood, bringing close to 50 years of experience to consult on tomorrow's box-office hits.

Goldman published his first novel, The Temple of Gold, in 1957 after getting his Master's degree from Columbia University. He published several novels and plays before he sold his first screenplay, Masquerade - an adaptation of the novel by Victor Canning. Three years later (in 1969), his script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Goldman went on to write such hits as The Stepford Wives (1975), All the President's Men (1976 - another Oscar win), Marathon Man (1976, based on his novel), and Heat (1986, based on his novel), before he forever entrenched himself in the hearts of filmgoers with The Princess Bride in 1987. He also turned Kathy Bates into one of the most terrifying literature fans in all of cinema with his adaptation of Steven King's Misery in 1998. His credited work has been less influential since then, though he has reportedly contributed to the screenplays for Last Action Hero (1993), Indecent Proposal (1993), Good Will Hunting (1997), and Zombieland (2009).

William Goldman's work appears three times on the Writers Guild of America's list of the "101 Greatest Screenplays of All Time". He is also ranked ninth in an AskMen.com list of Top Ten Legendary Screenwriters. [Image via AP (taken at 1976 Academy Awards)]