Michael Blake

Birth Name:

Michael Lennox Blake

Birth Place:

Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States

Profession

Writer, Director

Dances With Wolves was the first Western film to win the best picture Oscar since 1931's "Cimarron․"
Received several public service awards for his various philanthropic efforts, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Award and the Animal Protection Institute's Humanitarian of the Year Award
Won the Writers Guild of America Award for best adapted screenplay for "Dances With Wolves" in 1991
Attended the University of New Mexico, but left in his senior year to move to California, where he took film classes at Berkeley
His first film was 1983's "Stacey's Knights," which was produced by Jim Wilson, a friend from Berkeley, and starred a then-unknown Kevin Costner, who encouraged him to write "Dances With Wolves" as a novel instead of a screenplay
Started out as a writer for the alternative newspaper Free Press
Quote: "[on funding "Dances With Wolves"] "This story is so American we had to go to Europe to get the initial money․""
Best known as an author and screenwriter who wrote the award-winning film "Dances With Wolves․"
His other works included "Marching to Valhalla," a sequel to "Dances With Wolves" called "The Holy Road" and an autobiography called "Like a Running Dog․"
When it was first published as a paperback novel in 1988, "Dances With Wolves" earned him only $6,500; at the time of his death, it had sold more than 3․5 million copies in 22 different languages

1991Oscar - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:Winner
1991CFCA Award - Best Screenplay:Nominated
1991DFWFCA Award - Best Screenplay:Winner
1991Golden Globe - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture:Winner
1991USC Scripter AwardNominated
1991Spur Award - Best Motion Picture:Winner
1991WGA Award (Screen) - Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:Winner
1992BAFTA Film Award - Best Screenplay - Adapted:Nominated

Fast Facts