Barry Morrow
Barry Morrow (born June 12, 1948) is an American screenwriter and producer. He wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for Rain Man.
Morrow was born in Austin, Minnesota and studied at St. Olaf College.
Several of Morrow's scripts are inspired by real people, especially people with disabilities and/or extraordinary talents. These include the savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man, inspired by the real savant Kim Peek; and mentally disabled Bill Sackter, played by Mickey Rooney in the TV movie 'Bill'. Both works received writing Oscar, Emmy and other awards for Morrow and for the actors who portrayed them. Morrow gave his Oscar statuette as a gift to Kim Peek. Morrow wrote CBS's Bill: On His Own (1983) and his relationship with Sackter is presented in the feature length 2008 documentary A Friend Indeed – The Bill Sackter Story.[1]
Morrow is a member of the Association of Retarded Citizens, the National Association of Social Workers, and the Autism Society of America.
He is an avid golfer, and is known to play the majority of his golf rounds using an eight club bag of hickory stick (wooden shaft) golf clubs made pre-1940.[2]
References
- ↑ Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage p145 Iain Johnstone – 2007 "It would never have happened without Bill Sackter who in 1920, at the age of seven, was placed in the Minnesota State School for the Feeble-Minded and ... A young student, Barry Morrow, and his wife, Bev, petitioned for his guardianship."
- ↑ Lorne Rubenstein – Moe and Me: Encounters with Moe Norman, Golf's Mysterious Genius 2012 p68 "Barry Morrow wrote Rain Man and received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Morrow had only recently taken up golf when he read the cover story about Moe that David Owen had written in GolfDigest's December 1995 issue."