Alvin Sargent, two-time Oscar winner dies at 92

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Alvin Sargent, two-time Oscar winner and SPIDER-MAN trilogy scribe has died at the age of 92.

Sargent's representatives have confirmed that the screenwriter died of natural causes on Thursday at his home in Seattle.

Starting out as a writer for television, Sargent made his directorial debut with his very first feature film GAMBIT in 1966. Starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, the comedic thriller follows an English cat burglar as he attempts to pull of the perfect heist with many misgivings along the way.

One of Hollywood's most versatile writers, Sargent's resume is all over the map. This is the man who won Oscars for JULIA and ORDINARY PEOPLE, but he is also the writer who penned Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 2 and 3, in addition to doing rewrites on Marc Webb's THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Sargent wrote the screenplays for 1999's ANYWHERE BUT HERE and 2002's UNFAITHFUL, but he also wrote Frank Oz's WHAT ABOUT BOB? and the tragically underrated STRAIGHT TIME. There was literally nothing that was outside of Sargent's wheelhouse.

Sargent was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for PAPER MOON, Peter Bogdanovich’s film about a couple of Depression-era con artists posing as father and daughter. The film made history when its 10-year-old star, Tatum O’Neal, became the youngest actress ever to win a competitive Oscar for her performance as a young con artist.

In recognition of his six-decade career, Sargent received the Writers Guild of America’s lifetime achievement honor, the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, in 1991.

Like any good Hollywood screenwriter, Sargent wrote hundreds of stories that never quite made it to the screen. A unique spirit, Sargent was known to often muse aloud, “When I die, I’m going to have written on my tombstone, ‘Finally, a plot!’ ”