Christopher Wilkinson (born March 29, 1950) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Nixon (1995).[1] He also wrote the screenplays for Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006), the latter of which he also produced.[3] Most of his scripts are historically based and co-written with Stephen J. Rivele.
Christopher Wilkinson | |
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Born | New York, New York, U.S. | March 29, 1950
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Temple University |
Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer, director |
Years active | 1979–present |
Spouse | Cathy Guisewite (1997-2011) |
Children | 2 |
Wilkinson was born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. He began his career as a musician before attending film school at Temple University.[4]
Wilkinson has written several biopics with frequent writing partner Stephen J. Rivele, starting with Nixon (1995)[5] and including Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006).[3][6] He was a writer and executive producer on Pawn Sacrifice (2014) and Miles Ahead (2015), and wrote and directed the PBS film Virtuosity (2014).
Wilkinson worked on the screenplays for Mercury, a biopic about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury,[7] the long-planned All Eyez on Me, about rapper Tupac Shakur,[8][9][10] and Birth of the Dragon, inspired by the real-life no-rules fight between Bruce Lee and Chinese kung fu master Wong Jack Man.[11]
Wilkinson lives in Los Angeles, California, with his son.[12] He was formerly married to cartoonist Cathy Guisewite (creator of the comic strip Cathy).