“As you wish”.
What a line. Do you ever say something with another meaning intended, desperately hoping the other party will catch on? In the movie (AND the novel), The Princess Bride, “As you wish,” equates to, “I love you”. The humor, the romance, the adventure…who thought of such a storyline? William Goldman.
William was born in 1931. Born in Illinois, his young life was pretty basic. No frills or fancy glamour. William was the second born son. I know what that’s like! Second born, second favorite. Kidding mom! (Not really) His father was a successful businessman, until… he wasn’t. Alcohol began consuming his life and he burned what remained of the business that he had worked so hard to establish. By the time William was in high school, the situation was continuing to escalate. William discovered that his father had commit suicide; and William being young and feeling the pressure, was overwhelmed with loss. His mother was also deaf, which created another obstacle to overcome in dealing with this heartbreaking loss and shift in the family dynamic.
William was never focused on writing until a creative writing course in college. His grades were said to be embarrassingly awful. Regardless of William being the editor of the school’s magazine, he wasn’t able to get one story published in it! Poor guy! Despite the initial question marks thrown his way, he completed a master’s degree in English.
William was never set on writing screenplays but felt more compelled to dabble in poetry and novels. He wrote his first novel in only three weeks, The Temple of God. He sent it off to an agent and they agreed to publish it if he double the length. Sold! It seemed that after this publication, his writing seemed to sky rocket with limitless force. Another novel popped out in 1958 and his third in 1960, Soldier in the Rain. This evolved into a film, leading to even more recognition of his immense talent and natural storytelling.
Could this be what led to his screenwriting of films such as No Way to Treat a Lady and the 1966 Harper, staring Paul Newman? That would be my guess! His talents continued to stream into both novels and screenplays. In 1973, William wrote the novel The Princess Bride. A decade later, the film was made. And my life was complete! Now, the list of novels and screenplays he continued to write are longer than my cats glare across the room while I’m petting the dog…so I’ll let those curious enough to check that list out research on their own. I see a Goldman based movie binge in your future!
William viewed the film business as a cynic. He was a novelist after all, not a screenwriter. Despite having this skeptical perception, he was voted into the Writers Guild of America hall-of-fames 101 Greatest Screenplays List. I think this guy didn’t even try to be successful, he just was.
In 2000, William was quoted the below regarding his writing:
“Someone pointed out to me that the most sympathetic characters in my books always died miserably. I didn’t consciously know I was doing that. I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t wake up each morning and think, today I think I’ll make a really terrific guy so I can kill him. It just worked out that way. I haven’t written a novel in over a decade… and someone very wise suggested that I might have stopped writing novels because my rage was gone. It’s possible. All this doesn’t mean a helluva lot, except probably there is a reason I was the guy who gave Babe over to Szell in the “Is it safe?” scene and that I was the guy who put Westley into The Machine. I think I have a way with pain. When I come to that kind of sequence I have a certain confidence that I can make it play. Because I come from such a dark corner.”
Ironically, William was a sympathetic character to those who knew him well. He developed colon cancer and pneumonia, causing severe complications throughout his later life, leading to his passing at the age of 87, November of 2018. William was a genius at creating stories of both fictional and realistic variety, all the while drawing the reader or viewer to develop a deep connection to the intricate, eccentric characters created. His memory will undoubtedly be forever lasting. His humor, depth and passion continue to trickle through generations with every word written.
“I write to balance the teeter-totter of my childhood. Graham Greene once said one of the great things: an unhappy childhood is a writer’s goldmine.”
—Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldman
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/obituaries/william-goldman-dead.html
Header quote reference: More Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman