Oscar winning screenwriter Bo Goldman, known for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, dies aged 90

Oscar-winning screenwriter Bo Goldman, best known for adapting the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” to its acclaimed film version, died on Tuesday 25 July in Helendale, California at the age of 90. His son-in-law, director Todd Field confirmed the news to the New York Times. No cause of death was disclosed. 

Robert "Bo" Goldman was an American screenwriter and playwright. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Writers Guild of America Awards as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He also received two BAFTA Award nominations.

The film was based on Ken Kesey's 1962 book of the same name, following a Korean War veteran and criminal who pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse. 

Jack Nicholson starred alongside Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd in the 1975 film adaptation of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’. Goldman won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), the movie won Best Picture and Nicholson won Best Actor at the 1976 Oscars ceremony. 

His other film writing roles included “Melvin and Howard (1980)” which earned him his second Oscar nomination and  Writers Guild Award. Other film credentials include “Scent of a Woman (1992)” starring Al Pacino and  “Meet Joe Black (1998)” with Brad Pitt.  

Goldman married actress Mab Ashforth in 1954. Goldman left his wife and six children in 1974 and moved to Los Angeles in an attempt to revive his career. In later life, it is believed he lived near Rockland, Maine, with his daughter, Serena, and son-in-law, filmmaker Todd Field.