---
name: "William D. Wittliff"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-d-wittliff"
fi1m_id: "william-d-wittliff"
imdb_id: "nm0937074"
tmdb_id: 21864
wikidata_id: "Q8007527"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "1 January 1940"
died: "9 June 2019"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-05T01:53:08.382892+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."
---

# William D. Wittliff

## Identity

William D. Wittliff

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-d-wittliff
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-d-wittliff
- **IMDb ID:** nm0937074
- **TMDB ID:** 21864
- **Wikidata ID:** Q8007527
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._Wittliff, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8007527, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0937074/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21864

Writer. Born 1 January 1940 in Taft, Texas, USA. Died 9 June 2019.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 1 January 1940, Taft, Texas, USA
- **Died:** 9 June 2019
- **Active:** 1989–2000
- **Frequently works with:** [Diane Lane](https://film.one/person/diane-lane.md)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._Wittliff, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8007527, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0937074/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21864

## Biography

William D. Wittliff, also known as Bill Wittliff, was an American screenwriter, producer, author and photographer. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1963 with a degree in journalism and, with his wife Sally, founded the Encino Press in Austin in 1964, specialising in books on Texas and the Southwest. In 1986 the couple established the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, an archive of Southwestern literature, photography, music and film.

Wittliff wrote the teleplay and served as co-executive producer for the 1989 CBS miniseries *Lonesome Dove*, adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel. He co-wrote the screenplay and produced the 1994 film *Legends of the Fall*, and wrote the screenplay for the 2000 film *The Perfect Storm*. His other screenwriting credits include *Raggedy Man* (1981), *Barbarosa* (1982) and *The Black Stallion* (1979). He received a Writers Guild of America Award and multiple Western Heritage Awards for his work.

*Sources: nytimes.com, en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com, tshaonline.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Perfect Storm* (2000), Fi1m 63, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-perfect-storm.md)

## Complete filmography (16)

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

- *A Night in Old Mexico* (2013), Writer, Producer
- *The Perfect Storm* (2000), Screenplay — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-perfect-storm.md)
- *Lone Justice 2* (1995), Writer
- *Legends of the Fall* (1994), Screenplay, Producer
- *The Cowboy Way* (1994), Screenplay, Story
- *Ned Blessing* (1993), series, Creator
- *Ned Blessing: The True Story Of My Life* (1992), Executive Producer, Writer
- *Lonesome Dove* (1989), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Teleplay
- *Red Headed Stranger* (1986), Producer, Director, Writer
- *Country* (1984), Writer, Producer
- *Barbarosa* (1982), Writer
- *Raggedy Man* (1981), Writer, Producer
- *Resurrection* (1980), as Man in Bar
- *Honeysuckle Rose* (1980), Screenplay
- *The Black Stallion* (1979), Screenplay
- *Thaddeus Rose and Eddie* (1978), Writer

---
© 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/william-d-wittliff