Randall Wallace (born July 28, 1949, Jackson, Tennessee) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director who wrote the screenplay for the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay Adapted Directly for the Screen. Wallace wrote and directed the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, also starring Gibson. He is currently writing the screenplay for the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

Biography

Born in Tennessee, Wallace spent part of his childhood there and in Virginia. He began writing stories at the age of seven and by the time he graduated from high school. Instead of pursuing a career as a screenwriter or author, however, Wallace planned on becoming a minister or a songwriter.

Wallace graduated from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia and attended Duke University, where he was a seminary student. In interviews he has acknowledged a deep commitment to Christianity, which he credits as an influence on his approach to filmmaking.

In 1980, Wallace moved to Hollywood after trying out a career in singing and songwriting. He soon began writing short stories, novels and scripts for movies and television shows.

Wallace holds a black belt in Karate.

Selected filmography

• Braveheart (1995) – writer
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) – writer, director and producer
• Pearl Harbor (2001) – writer and executive producer
• We Were Soldiers (2002) – writer, director and producer

References

External links

• Christianity Today interview with Wallace
• Duke Divinity School's Divinity Online Edition' feature article on Wallace