David S. Ward Biography

Fast Facts

• Nominated for numerous Writers Guild of America awards, including his work on "The Sting" and "Sleepless in Seattle"
• Studied filmmaking at Pomona College, the University of Southern California and UCLA
• Later gained success following several financial flops after collaborating with Nora Ephron to write "Sleepless in Seattle" in the early '90s
• Gained critical acclaim after landing an Oscar for his debut screenplay, "The Sting", which he sold while working at an educational film production company
• Often works as a visiting professor of screenwriting and directing at Chapman University in California
• Reportedly used his participation in Robert Redford's "The Milagro Beanfield War" as leverage to make "Major League" with Morgan Creek Productions, a screenplay he had been unsuccessfully pitching to studios throughout much of the 1980s