Frank Pierson

Birthday: 12 May 1925, Chappaqua, New York, USA

Birth Name: Frank Romer Pierson

Height: 188 cm

Frank Pierson was born on May 12, 1925 in Chappaqua, New York, USA as Frank Romer Pierson. He was a producer and writer, known for Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Presumed Innocent (1990). He was married to Helene Szamet, Dori Pierson and Polly Stokes. He died on July 22, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

[on writing Cat Ballou (1965)] That was the beginning of all of our careers . . . I was the 11th wri...Show more »

[on writing Cat Ballou (1965)] That was the beginning of all of our careers . . . I was the 11th writer on that, but they'd all been trying to do it straight, like a Gene Autry singing movie. Walter Newman, who was the writer on it before me, had the inspiration to do it as a comedy, but he was fed up with the whole damn thing, so he sketched it as a comedy. Then he quit, and that was my opportunity to come in and pick up where Walter left off. He just gave me such a gift because he showed how to do it as a comedy, and all I had to do was follow in his footsteps. It was extraordinary. Show less «

[on the famous "What we have is a failure to communicate" line from Cool Hand Luke (1967)] The phras...Show more »

[on the famous "What we have is a failure to communicate" line from Cool Hand Luke (1967)] The phrase just sort of appeared on the page. I looked at it and thought, "Now that's interesting". Then I thought, "These words are going to be spoken by an actor who is playing a real redneck character who probably never went beyond high school", and it has a faintly academic feel to it, that line. I thought, "People are going to question it". Show less «

A film set, as Orson Welles was first to say, is the most wonderful electric train a boy could ever ...Show more »

A film set, as Orson Welles was first to say, is the most wonderful electric train a boy could ever be given. What he failed to add was that, most of the time, it doesn't work. Show less «

One of the few things I've discovered about writing is to form a habit that becomes an addiction, so...Show more »

One of the few things I've discovered about writing is to form a habit that becomes an addiction, so that if you don't put something down on paper every day you get really mean and awful with withdrawal symptoms, and your wife and your dog and your kids are going to kick your ass until you get back to it, because they can't bear you in that state of mind. Show less «

Frank Pierson

Frank Pierson's FILMOGRAPHY

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