Entertainment
Brokeback Mountain screenwriter Larry McMurtry dies aged 84 as tributes pour in for novelist
Brokeback Mountain screenwriter Larry McMurtry has died, aged 84.
The Oscar-winner and novelist died at his home on Thursday, according to the New York Times.
His death was confirmed by a spokesperson for the family.
Larry’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Tributes poured in for the star on social media, as fans and fellow authors rushed to pay their respects.
‘Arguably the greatest American novelist of the 20th Century.’ Andy Greenwald penned. ‘Inarguably the writer who singlehandedly got me through the pandemic.
‘A legend and a titanic loss.’
A tweet from the official Oscars account read: ‘Larry McMurty spun stories about the real people and hard lives hidden in the mythic American West.
‘The author of “Lonesome Dove” was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay of “The Last Picture Show,” and won for “Brokeback Mountain” with Diana Ossana in 2006.
‘He will be missed.’
James L Brooks, director of Terms of Endearment – another of Larry’s novel adaptations – recalled: ‘Sitting here thinking of the greatness of Larry McMurtry.
‘Among the best writers ever. I remember when he sent me on my way to adapt Terms – his refusal to let me hold him in awe.
‘And the fact that he was personally working the cash register of his rare book store as he did so.’
Larry studied creative writing at Stanford University, and later taught English lectures at Rice University until 1969.
His debut, Horseman, Pass By, was released in 1961, and went on to be adapted for the big screen – with Paul Newman and Patricia Neal among the cast.
The writer penned more than 30 books during his incredible career, including the Pulitzer Prize winning Lonesome Dove in 1985, and Telegraph Days.
Many of his works spawned TV and film adaptations, and he won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his work on Brokeback Mountain – starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Larry is survived by second wife Norma Faye Kesey, son James – who he shares with first wife Jo Scott – and grandson Curtis.
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