Life and Career
Pierson was born in Chappaqua, New York, the son of Louise (née Randall), a writer, and Harold C. Pierson. Pierson's parents, family and their lives, were the subject of the 1945 film Roughly Speaking, starring Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson as his parents.
Pierson served in the military during World War II, then graduated from Harvard. He worked as a correspondent for Time and Life magazines before selling his first script to Alcoa-Goodyear Theater. He got his break in Hollywood in 1958 as scripted editor for Have Gun, Will Travel and moved on to write for the television series Naked City, Route 66 and others. He went on to write or co-write several notable films, including Cat Ballou and Cool Hand Luke which were both nominated for Academy Awards. He wrote Dog Day Afternoon, which won Pierson his Oscar statuette. He directed and contributed to the screenplay of A Star Is Born, and the in-fighting between himself, Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson and producer (and at the time boyfriend of Streisand) Jon Peters on the film led him to write the article "My Battles with Barbra and Jon" for The Village Voice.
Pierson directed several notable films produced for television, including Dirty Pictures, Citizen Cohn, Conspiracy, and Somebody Has To Shoot the Picture. His direction on Conspiracy won a Directors' Guild Award for Best Television Movie, and his second Peabody and BAFTA Award.
He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) from 1981—1983 and again from 1993—1995 and was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) from 2001-2005. In 2003, Pierson was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland presented him with the Award. He was a consultant on Mad Men and co-wrote (with Matthew Weiner) "Signal 30" - the fifth episode of the fifth season of Mad Men, a member of the teaching staff of Sundance Institute, and Artistic Director of the American Film Institute.
Pierson died on July 22, 2012 in his home in Los Angeles, California from natural causes. He was survived by his wife Helene and his two children.
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