---
name: "Frank Pierson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/frank-pierson"
fi1m_id: "frank-pierson"
imdb_id: "nm0682757"
tmdb_id: 13861
wikidata_id: "Q1336850"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "12 May 1925"
died: "23 July 2012"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 85
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-07T13:31:14.427777+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Frank Pierson

## Identity

Frank Pierson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/frank-pierson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** frank-pierson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0682757
- **TMDB ID:** 13861
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1336850
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pierson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1336850, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0682757/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13861

Writer and producer. Born 12 May 1925 in Chappaqua, New York, USA. Died 23 July 2012.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 12 May 1925, Chappaqua, New York, USA
- **Died:** 23 July 2012
- **Active:** 1967–2018
- **Also known as:** Frank Romer Pierson, Frank R. Pierson, Frank R. Robinson
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 1 directing, 6 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Lesli Linka Glatter](https://film.one/person/lesli-linka-glatter.md), [Matt Shakman](https://film.one/person/matt-shakman.md), [Phil Abraham](https://film.one/person/phil-abraham.md), [Tom Smuts](https://film.one/person/tom-smuts.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 85, as writer, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 84 (1), 1970s 90 (1), 1990s 82 (1), 2000s 85 (3), 2010s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 84 to 80 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 6 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 3, Thriller 2, Music 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $731m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pierson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1336850, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0682757/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13861

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*Mad Men*](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) (88)
- **Paramount+:** [*The Good Wife*](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md) (84)
- **HBO Max:** [*Conspiracy*](https://film.one/film/conspiracy.md) (83)
- **Tubi:** [*Presumed Innocent*](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Frank Pierson was an American screenwriter, director and producer. Born in Chappaqua, New York, he served in the US Army during the Second World War and graduated from Harvard University with a degree in cultural anthropology. He began his career as a journalist before moving into television writing in the late 1950s.

Pierson received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays for *Cat Ballou* (1965) and *Cool Hand Luke* (1967). He won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for *Dog Day Afternoon* (1975). He also directed the 1976 remake of *A Star Is Born*. In later years he served as a consulting producer and co-wrote an episode of *Mad Men* (2012), and wrote for *The Good Wife* (2010). He was president of the Writers Guild of America, West on two occasions and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2001 to 2005.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, web.archive.org.*

## On Fi1m (7)

### Directed (1)

- *Conspiracy* (2001), Fi1m 83, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/conspiracy.md)

### Wrote (6) — the average rests on these

- *A Star Is Born* (2018), Fi1m 82, Original Film Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/a-star-is-born.md)
- *The Good Wife* (2009), Fi1m 84, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md)
- *Mad Men* (2007), Fi1m 88, Writer, Consulting Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md)
- *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Fi1m 82, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md)
- *Dog Day Afternoon* (1975), Fi1m 90, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/dog-day-afternoon.md)
- *Cool Hand Luke* (1967), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/cool-hand-luke.md)

## Complete filmography (28)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *A Star Is Born* (2018), Original Film Writer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/a-star-is-born.md)
- *The Good Wife* (2009), series, Consulting Producer, Writer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md)
- *Mad Men* (2007), series, Writer, Consulting Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md)
- *The L Word* (2004), series, Director
- *Paradise* (2004), Director
- *Soldier's Girl* (2003), Director
- *Conspiracy* (2001), Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/conspiracy.md)
- *Dirty Pictures* (2000), Director
- *Truman* (1995), Director
- *Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee* (1994), Director
- *Citizen Cohn* (1992), Director
- *Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture* (1990), Director
- *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md)
- *In Country* (1989), Screenplay
- *The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1985), series, Director
- *King of the Gypsies* (1978), Director, Screenplay
- *A Star Is Born* (1976), Director, Screenplay
- *Dog Day Afternoon* (1975), Screenplay — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/dog-day-afternoon.md)
- *Amanda Fallon* (1973), Writer
- *Nichols* (1971), series, Director, Producer, Writer, Story, Creator
- *The Anderson Tapes* (1971), Screenplay
- *The Neon Ceiling* (1971), Director
- *The Looking Glass War* (1970), Director, Writer
- *Cool Hand Luke* (1967), Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/cool-hand-luke.md)
- *The Happening* (1967), Screenplay
- *Cat Ballou* (1965), Screenplay
- *Route 66* (1960), series, Director
- *Have Gun, Will Travel* (1957), series, Director

## Gallery

- ![PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS 63rd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel May 17, 2004](https://film.one/media/person/61155/gallery-9b197d549fcf.jpg) PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS 63rd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf=Astoria Hotel May 17, 2004 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/363_pa_%288187417657%29.jpg/1280px-363_pa_%288187417657%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![فرانک پیرسون، زمستان ۱۳۸۷ در تخت جمشید (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/61155/gallery-066083672433.jpg) فرانک پیرسون، زمستان ۱۳۸۷ در تخت جمشید (2009) — Parastoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Frank-Pierson-in-Persepolis.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Frank Pierson](https://film.one/media/person/61155/gallery-c9d2e4c538b3.jpg) Frank Pierson — Image via TMDB
- ![Frank Pierson](https://film.one/media/person/61155/gallery-d05be391114f.jpg) Frank Pierson — Image via TMDB
- ![Frank Pierson](https://film.one/media/person/61155/gallery-3589c813b272.jpg) Frank Pierson — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 1976: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *Dog Day Afternoon*
- 1968: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Cool Hand Luke*
- 1966: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Cat Ballou*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/frank-pierson