Horton Foote

At the age of 16, Horton Foote left his home in Wharton, Texas, to study acting in Pasadena. From there he went to New York City to become an actor and a writer. Since then he has written plays for television, radio, film, and stage. About his adaptation of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird into a screenplay, Harper Lee said, "I am a happy author. They have made my story into a beautiful and moving motion picture." As a screenwriter Foote has won Oscars for the screenplays of To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies.