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Melissa Mathison

Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter and producer (died 2015)

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Born
June 3, 1950
Died
November 4, 2015
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1950

About Melissa Mathison

Melissa Marie Mathison was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She wrote the screenplays for the films The Black Stallion (1979) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the latter of which earned her the Saturn Award for Best Writing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. Melissa Marie Mathison was born on June 3, 1950, in Los Angeles, one of five siblings. Her father, Richard Randolph Mathison, was the Los Angeles bureau chief of Newsweek. Her mother was Margaret Jean (née Kieffer) Mathison, a food writer and convenience-foods entrepreneur.

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

Melissa Mathison timeline

  1. Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement.
  2. Melissa Marie Mathison was born on June 3, 1950, in Los Angeles, one of five siblings.
  3. She wrote the screenplays for the films The Black Stallion (1979) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the latter of which earned her the Saturn Award for Best Writing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The world when Melissa Mathison was born

Melissa Mathison was born in 1950. 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 1950

  • #1 song"Goodnight, Irene" – The Weavers
  • Top movieAll About Eve
  • Top TV showTexaco Star Theater
  • Best-selling bookThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentUSA beats England 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup
  • Top headlineKorean War begins as North Korea invades the South
  • Technology milestoneFirst credit card introduced (Diners Club)
  • Defining fadPoodle skirts
  • Notable inventionCredit card (Diners Club)
  • World population2.56 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population151.3M

1950 versus 2026

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

Measure19502026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$8,450$435,000
Average income$5,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.46$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population151.3M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. 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.