---
name: "Leonard Schrader"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/leonard-schrader"
fi1m_id: "leonard-schrader"
imdb_id: "nm0775055"
tmdb_id: 70280
wikidata_id: "Q9292586"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "30 November 1943"
died: "2 November 2006"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 85
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T18:36:19.340041+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."
---

# Leonard Schrader

## Identity

Leonard Schrader

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/leonard-schrader
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** leonard-schrader
- **IMDb ID:** nm0775055
- **TMDB ID:** 70280
- **Wikidata ID:** Q9292586
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Schrader, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9292586, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775055/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/70280

Writer. Born 30 November 1943 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Died 2 November 2006.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 30 November 1943, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
- **Died:** 2 November 2006
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 85, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Schrader, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9292586, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775055/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/70280

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Kiss of the Spider Woman*](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md) (84)

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

## Biography

Leonard Schrader (30 November 1943 – 2 November 2006) was an American screenwriter and director. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he studied at Calvin College and earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He lived in Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where he taught American literature and developed an interest in Japanese culture and yakuza traditions.

Schrader collaborated frequently with his brother, the screenwriter and director Paul Schrader. Their joint credits include the story for *The Yakuza* (1974) and the screenplay for *Blue Collar* (1978). He also co-wrote *Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters* (1985) with his brother and wife Chieko Schrader. Schrader adapted Manuel Puig’s novel for the screenplay of *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He directed the feature *Naked Tango* (1990) and later taught screenwriting at the University of Southern California, Chapman University and the American Film Institute.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md)
- *Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters* (1985), Fi1m 86, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters.md)

## Complete filmography (11)

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

- *Edie: Girl on Fire* (2010), Writer
- *Naked Tango* (1990), Director, Writer
- *Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters* (1985), Writer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters.md)
- *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md)
- *P. P. Rider* (1983), Writer
- *The Killing of America* (1981), Writer, Producer
- *Tora-san's Dream of Spring* (1979), Writer
- *The Man Who Stole the Sun* (1979), Screenplay, Story
- *Old Boyfriends* (1979), Writer
- *Blue Collar* (1978), Screenplay
- *The Yakuza* (1974), Story

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1986: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Kiss of the Spider Woman*

*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/leonard-schrader