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Lawrence
Lawrence
Lawrence of Arabia
Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
Based on the life and writings of Col. T.E. Lawrence
• Michael Wilson started out as a short story writer. At the beginning of his movie-writing career, he
wrote for Hopalong Cassidy westerns.
• The British Screenwriters Guild determined that Wilson should receive coequal screen credit for his
work on Lawrence of Arabia in 1963.
• In September 1995, the Writers Guild of America determined that Wilson’s credit should be restored.
• The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on September
26, 1995, to grant Michael Wilson an Academy Award nomination, along with Robert Bolt, for
Lawrence of Arabia. This was the result of the Writers Guild of America finding that Wilson and Bolt
share the credit for the screenplay.
• Michael Wilson’s credit for Bridge on the River Kwai (#48) and that of his co-writer Carl Foreman—
also blacklisted—were officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in
1984, when their widows were presented with a posthumous Oscar®. —David Robb, Daily Variety,
th
55 anniversary issue, Oct. 25, 1988
• Screenwriting awards/nominations for Michael Wilson: WGA Screen Laurel Award (1976), nominated
for the Robert Meltzer Award (1952); 3 Writers Guild Award nominations, with 2 wins, for A Place in
the Sun and Friendly Persuasion; 1 Golden Globes win, for Five Fingers; 4 Academy Award
nominations, with 1 win, for The Bridge on the River Kwai.