Melissa Mathison was an award-winning American film and TV screenwriter and a prominent activist for Tibetan freedom. Born in Los Angeles, she grew up in a happy home with her four siblings. Although she joined the ‘University of California, Berkeley,’ she left without graduating when family friend and employer Francis Ford Coppola offered her a job as an assistant in some films of his, including ‘The Godfather, Part II’ (1974). It was his encouragement that led to her to write her first screenplay, for the film ‘The Black Stallion’ (1979), which led to more screenplays. Selective about her work, she has written screenplays for hits such as ‘E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982) and ‘The BFG’ (2016), collaborating with Steven Spielberg. She died of neuroendocrine cancer on November 4, 2015, at the age of 65.
