Melissa Mathison's Death

The screenwriter Melissa Mathison died at the age of 65. Here is all you want to know, and more!

Biography - A Short Wiki

Screenwriter most famous for writing the screenplay for the classic 1982 science fiction family film E.T.

She divorced her first husband, Harrison Ford, in 2004.

Quotes

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I have two little children. I didn’t want to be missing their childhood while I was away, busy writing about children.

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Children are primed to take in something of more moral value than they’re getting. I know I’m blowing my own horn here, but ‘E.T.’ had value to it in terms of the feeling about yourself that you walked away with.

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I avoid listening to too many people’s comments about my script. I have learned to take in what is of use. It’s too frustrating looking at somebody’s notes who didn’t get what you were doing. If somebody says, ‘This stinks, and here are all the reasons,’ that’s not going to help you.

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My idea of a good fantasy is something that’s absolutely grounded in reality. And there’s a little element that doesn’t belong there – and that’s the fantasy element – that you have to react to and deal with in a completely real way.

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We weren’t your mainstream ’50s family. Both my parents had wonderful, eccentric, artistic friends who treated us as friends as well. How your mind worked was considered important.