Biography
Ernest Lehman was an American screenwriter whose credits include the original screenplay for North by Northwest (1959), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He also wrote screenplays for Sabrina (1954), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The King and I (1956), West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Family Plot (1976).
Born in New York City, Lehman graduated from the City College of New York and began his career as a freelance fiction writer before moving into screenwriting. He received six Academy Award nominations for his screenplays and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2001, the first screenwriter to receive that honour.
