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Aaron Sorkin

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Aaron Sorkin: Biography

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Birth Name: Aaron Benjamin Sorkin
Birth Place: New York, NY
Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 06/09/1961, Gemini
Profession: Screenwriter; playwright; TV producer

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Despite initially aspiring to be an actor, Sorkin found his niche as a writer/producer. After penning a number of off-Broadway plays, he finally made it to the Great White Way with the 1989 legal military drama A Few Good Men, selling the film rights before the show even premiered. Three years later the play was turned into an Oscar-nominated film, thus launching Sorkin's Hollywood career. Although he wrote a few more movies, the small screen turned out to be his medium, as Sorkin and his frequent collaborator, director/producer Thomas Schlamme, created a succession of witty, poignant, critically acclaimed series set behind the scenes at: a sports show (the beloved but short-lived Sports Night), the White House (West Wing) and a late-night sketch comedy show (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). Each were characteristically filled with crackling dialogue and fascinating characters, and Sorkin wrote almost all the scripts single-handedly. Even a high-profile 2001 drug bust and his 2003 dispute with NBC, which led to his leaving The West Wing, couldn't derail his career.Aaron Sorkin Fast Facts:

A Few Good Men was based on a story his sister Deborah, a Navy JAG lawyer, told him.
Did uncredited script work on Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning Holocaust drama Schindler's List.
Turned in a 385-page first-draft screenplay for 1995's The American President. Unused material from that script was later adapted for The West Wing.
Received Humanitas Prize for the 1999 West Wing episode titled "In Excelsis Deo."
Appeared in bit parts in the films A Few Good Men (1992) and The American President (1995), as well as episodes of Sports Night and The West Wing.