Bo Goldman, Oscar-Winning 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' Co-Writer, Dead at 90

Bo Goldman
Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

The celebrated 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' screenwriter died on Tuesday in Helendale, Califiornia.

Bo Goldman -- the widely celebrated and revered screenwriter known for penning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Melvin and Howard and Scent of a Woman -- has died. He was 90.

Goldman's son-in-law, Oscar-nominated director Todd Field, confirmed to the New York Times on Wednesday that the screenwriter died on Tuesday in Helendale, California. No cause of death has yet been disclosed.

After penning a handful of episodes for different TV shows, Goldman's big break came when he was tapped by Milos Forman to adapt Ken Kesey's famed novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Working with co-writer Lawrence Hauben, Goldman penned an adaptation that earned him serious acclaim with critics and resulted in him and Hauben winning Oscars in 1976 for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Danny DeVito, who played Martini in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, paid tribute to Goldman in a statement to ET on Wednesday, sharing, "Working with Bo was a dream. It was an honor knowing him."

In 1980, Goldman won his second Oscar for his original screenplay, Melvin and Howard, directed by Jonathan Demme.

Goldman would go on to earn another Oscar nomination for writing the 1992 drama Scent of a Woman, directed by Martin Brest -- who Goldman would later collaborate with while writing Brest's 1998 romantic fantasy drama Meet Joe Black.

Goldman and his wife lived together in Rockport, Maine, until her death in 2017. He is survived by his son, Justin, and daughters Mia, Amy, Diana and Serena, as well as seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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