---
name: "Ronald Bass"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ronald-bass"
fi1m_id: "ronald-bass"
imdb_id: "nm0060103"
tmdb_id: 5144
wikidata_id: "Q1857753"
roles: ["Writer","Producer"]
born: "26 March 1942"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 59
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-05T01:41:26.959030+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."
---

# Ronald Bass

## Identity

Ronald Bass

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ronald-bass
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ronald-bass
- **IMDb ID:** nm0060103
- **TMDB ID:** 5144
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1857753
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Bass, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1857753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0060103/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5144

Writer and producer. Born 26 March 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer
- **Born:** 26 March 1942, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Active:** 1988–present
- **Also known as:** Ron Bass, Ronald Jay Bass
- **Frequently works with:** [Julia Roberts](https://film.one/person/julia-roberts.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 59, as writer, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 76 (1), 1990s 48 (3), 2020s 75 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 64 to 58 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 3 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $922m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Bass, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1857753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0060103/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5144

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Rain Man*](https://film.one/film/rain-man.md) (76)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Entrapment*](https://film.one/film/entrapment.md) (49)

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

## Biography

Ronald Bass is an American screenwriter and film producer. Born on 26 March 1942 in Los Angeles, California, he studied at Stanford University, Yale University and Harvard Law School. He practised entertainment law for seventeen years before turning to screenwriting in the mid-1980s.

His first produced screenplay was *Code Name: Emerald* (1985). He co-wrote the screenplay for *Rain Man* (1988) with Barry Morrow, for which he shared the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Bass has written or co-written numerous other films, including *Sleeping with the Enemy* (1991), *When a Man Loves a Woman* (1994), *Dangerous Minds* (1995), *My Best Friend's Wedding* (1997), *What Dreams May Come* (1998), *Stepmom* (1998) and *Entrapment* (1999). His screenplays are frequently developed in collaboration with other writers.

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

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Furious* (2026), Fi1m 75, Original Film Writer, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/furious.md)
- *Entrapment* (1999), Fi1m 49, Story, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/entrapment.md)
- *Dangerous Minds* (1995), Fi1m 42, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/dangerous-minds.md)
- *Sleeping with the Enemy* (1991), Fi1m 54, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-with-the-enemy.md)
- *Rain Man* (1988), Fi1m 76, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/rain-man.md)

## Complete filmography (38)

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

- *Furious* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Original Film Writer — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/furious.md)
- *Bau, Artist at War* (2024), Writer
- *Persuasion* (2022), Screenplay
- *My Best Friend's Wedding* (2019), Original Film Writer
- *Ice* (2016), series, Creator
- *My Best Friend's Wedding* (2016), Original Film Writer
- *Before We Go* (2014), Story, Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *Space Warriors* (2013), Story, Screenplay
- *Snow Flower and the Secret Fan* (2011), Screenplay
- *Amelia* (2009), Writer
- *Mozart and the Whale* (2005), Writer, Producer
- *The Lazarus Child* (2004), Writer
- *Passion of Mind* (2000), Writer, Producer
- *Snow Falling on Cedars* (1999), Screenplay, Producer
- *Entrapment* (1999), Screenplay, Executive Producer, Story — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/film/entrapment.md)
- *Swing Vote* (1999), Writer
- *Invisible Child* (1999), Story
- *Border Line* (1999), Teleplay, Story
- *Stepmom* (1998), Executive Producer, Screenplay
- *What Dreams May Come* (1998), Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *How Stella Got Her Groove Back* (1998), Writer, Executive Producer
- *My Best Friend's Wedding* (1997), Producer, Writer
- *Dangerous Minds* (1996), series, Writer, Creator
- *Moloney* (1996), series, Creator
- *Waiting to Exhale* (1995), Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *Dangerous Minds* (1995), Screenplay — Fi1m 42, [page](https://film.one/film/dangerous-minds.md)
- *The Conversation* (1995), Writer, Executive Producer
- *Reunion* (1994), Teleplay
- *The Enemy Within* (1994), Teleplay
- *When a Man Loves a Woman* (1994), as AA Man #1 · Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *The Joy Luck Club* (1993), Producer, Screenplay
- *Sleeping with the Enemy* (1991), Screenplay — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-with-the-enemy.md)
- *Rain Man* (1988), Screenplay — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/rain-man.md)
- *Gardens of Stone* (1987), Screenplay
- *Black Widow* (1987), Writer
- *Code Name: Emerald* (1985), Novel, Screenplay
- *The Joy Luck Club 2*, Writer
- *21 Down*, Writer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1989: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *Rain Man*

*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/ronald-bass