Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and
songwriter who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the 1995 film
Braveheart. His work on the film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best
Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay
Adapted Directly for the Screen. He directed The Man in the Iron Mask, We
Were Soldiers, and Secretariat. Early life
Born in Jackson, Tennessee, he lived in Memphis and Henderson County, Tennessee
before moving to Virginia. Wallace began writing stories at the age of seven. He
graduated from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia and attended Duke
University, where he studied Russian, religion, and literature and was a
member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He put himself through a graduate year
of seminary by teaching martial arts. Wallace holds a black belt in karate.
Career After managing an animal show at
Nashville’s Opryland, Wallace moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in singing
and songwriting. He began writing short stories, novels and scripts for movies.
Wallace was taken under the wing of leading television producer Stephen J.
Cannell and spent several years writing for television in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. He gained recognition and commercial
success by penning the screenplay for Braveheart, which was inspired by a trip
to Scotland to learn more about his Scottish roots. While there, he
discovered the legend of the medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace. He is
not related to William Wallace in any way, however. Braveheart became
Wallace’s first screenplay to be produced after it drew the interest of
director and star, Mel Gibson. It ended up as one of the most successful films
of 1995, earning the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director as well
as garnering other Oscar, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild Award for Best
Screenplay nominations. Wallace made his directorial debut with
his own screenplay in The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Leonardo DiCaprio,
John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons and Gérard Depardieu. Shortly
after, he wrote the screenplay for Pearl Harbor, directed by Michael Bay and
starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale.
This was followed by Wallace’s second film as director We Were Soldiers. Moved
by its starkly honest account of a singular battle in the Vietnam War, Mel
Gibson re-teamed with Wallace to star in the film. Wallace trained with career
soldiers at U.S. Army Ranger School in order to understand the motivation of
his characters. In 2010, Wallace directed Disney’s
Secretariat, the true story of the racehorse that won the Triple Crown in
1973. The film chronicled the struggles and courage of owner Penny
Chenery-Tweedy, portrayed by Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Lane.
Wallace also wrote the end title song, It’s Who You Are, which was released
with the Secretariat soundtrack. Wallace has been developing a movie
about the Vikings with Mel Gibson. Wallace directed Heaven Is for Real, the
story of a boy who says that he experienced heaven. The film was
released on April 16, 2014. Other work
Wallace is also the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and
the lyricist of the acclaimed hymn "Mansions of the Lord", performed as the
closing music for President Ronald Reagan's national funeral.
In 2008, Wallace wrote several songs with singer/songwriter Richard Marx. One
of those songs, "Flame In Your Fire", appears on Marx's album Emotional
Remains. In interviews he has acknowledged a deep
commitment to Christianity, which he credits as an influence on his approach
to filmmaking. He appeared in the seventh season of
HBO’s hit comedy series Entourage as himself.
In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Wallace is the founder of Hollywood for
Habitat for Humanity and the father of two sons. In 1999, he formed his own
company, Wheelhouse Entertainment, which is focused on creating entertainment for
worldwide audiences based on the classic values of love, courage and honor.
Wallace was the speaker at the Fellowship Foundation National Prayer
Breakfast on 3 February 2011. Wallace also served as the commencement
speaker at the Liberty University graduation ceremony on May 14, 2011.
Filmography References
External links Randall Wallace at the Internet Movie
Database