Screenwriter Syd Field Dies at 77

Syd Field, considered by the global film community to be the guru of screenwriting, died of hemolytic anemia at his home in Beverly Hills yesterday, surrounded by family and friends. He was 77.

Field was an internationally bestselling author for almost four decades. Field wrote Screenplay (1979), The Screenwriter’s Workbook (1984), Selling a Screenplay: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Hollywood (1989), Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay (1994), The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How To Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems (1998), Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film (2001) and The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting (2003).

From Deadline:

He began his career in the shipping department of Wolper Productions before going on to research and write for the original Biography television series, among other Wolper productions. During his career, Field chaired the Academic Liaison Committee at the WGA West, was a lecturer on the faculty at USC and AFI and has been a special script consultant to 20th Century Fox, Disney Studios, Universal and Tri-Star Pictures. He was inducted into the Final Draft Hall of Fame in 2006 and was the first inductee into the Screenwriting Hall of Fame of the American Screenwriting Association. He was also a special consultant to the Film Preservation Project for the Getty Center.