Portrait of Mark Boal

Birthday profile

Mark Boal

American journalist, screenwriter and film producer

Born
January 23, 1973
Age in 2026
53
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1973

About Mark Boal

Mark Boal (born January 23, 1973) is an American journalist, screenwriter, and film producer. Boal initially worked as a journalist, writing for outlets like Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Salon, and Playboy. Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" was adapted for the film In the Valley of Elah, which Boal also co-wrote. In 2008, he wrote and produced The Hurt Locker, for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2012 he wrote and produced Zero Dark Thirty, teaming again with director Kathryn Bigelow, about the tracking and killing of Osama bin Laden. The film earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. The pair collaborated a third time for 2017's Detroit. Boal has won two Academy Awards (with another two nominations), a BAFTA Award, two Writers Guild of America Awards, and a Producers Guild of America Award, and also has four Golden Globe Award nominations.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Mark Boal timeline

  1. Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" was adapted for the film In the Valley of Elah, which Boal also co-wrote.
  2. In 2008, he wrote and produced The Hurt Locker, for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The world when Mark Boal was born

Mark Boal was born in 1973. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1973

  • #1 song"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" – Tony Orlando & Dawn
  • Top movieThe Sting
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookGravity's Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentSecretariat wins the Triple Crown with a record Belmont Stakes
  • Top headlineOPEC oil embargo triggers global energy crisis
  • Technology milestoneFirst mobile phone call (Martin Cooper, Motorola)
  • Defining fadPlatform shoes
  • Notable inventionMobile phone (Motorola prototype)
  • World population3.93 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonNew York Knicks (NBA)
  • U.S. population211.9M

1973 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mark Boal's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19732026
Gas$0.39$3.45/gal
Average home$22,100$435,000
Average income$13,500$67,500
Minimum wage$1.60$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.77$11.95
Postage stamp$0.08$0.73
Population211.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.