Background

Ronald Bass was born on March 26, 1942, in Los Angeles, California, United States. During the time he was bedridden, from the age of 3 to 11, afflicted with an undiagnosed condition, Bass is said to have started writing. However, he gave it up in his late teens after a teacher criticized a novel he had written. He did not start again until he was age 32.

Education

Bass received his education at Stanford University and Yale University. He also received a law degree from Harvard University in 1967.

Career

Bass started his career as a writer during his teens when he began work on a novel, which he entitled Voleur. He completed this work at age 17 and showed it to his English teacher. He took her critique of his first completed project quite hard and later burned his manuscript.

Back in Los Angeles in 1967, Bass began a seventeen-year career practising law in the entertainment business. He was successful and eventually rose to the level of partner in his law firm. Bass has worked with his sister Diane Bass, who served as an uncredited technical consultant on the film Rain Man.

As he moved up the career ladder in law, the love of writing that Bass had acquired as a child never left him. He started writing again, usually during the predawn hours before going to work. Writing and working at unusual hours became a lifelong habit of his.

In 1974, Bass began to rework his novel Voleur, apparently from memory, and in 1978, he completed the work, renaming it The Perfect Thief. He then also wrote two additional novels, Lime's Crisis of 1982 and The Emerald Illusion of 1984.

The following year, Bass wrote the screenplay Code Name: Emerald, based on this novel. It was his debut as a screenwriter with a produced script. Since that time, Bass has been working primarily as a screenwriter and a film producer. His most recent works include such films as Before We Go, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Amelia and Mozart and the Whale. However, under the rules of the Writers Guild of America, Bass has not received on-screen credit for every script he has contributed to. It is thought that Bass has helped to write or consulted on more than 100 screenplays.

Bass has also shown himself capable of writing thrillers such as the 1986 film Black Widow and romantic comedies such as the 1997 film My Best Friend’s Wedding.

During his career, Bass was also a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1997.

Bass is currently producing the upcoming film The Moon and the Sun.

Achievements

• Ronald Bass has risen to the top of his form with serious dramas such as the 1993 film The Joy Luck Club and the 1988 film Rain Man, for which he shared an Academy Award for best original screenplay with Barry Morrow. The film was also nominated for multiple motion picture awards.
  
  Bass's work is characterized as being highly in demand, and he is thought to be among the most highly paid writers in Hollywood. He is often called the "King of the Pitches".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Lime's Crisis

    (Saudi Arabia is in secret alliance with China and Europe,...)

    1985
  • The Perfect Thief 1978
  • Emerald Illusion 1984

• movie

  • Watch Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

    (A story set in 19th century China and centred on the life...)

    2011
  • Watch Before We Go

    (Chris Evans and Alice Eve star as two strangers whose cha...)

    2014
  • Watch Amelia

    (A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Ear...)

    2009
  • Watch Mozart And The Whale

    (Mozart and the Whale is a heartwarming, romantic drama in...)

    2005
  • Watch What Dreams May Come

    (After Chris Nielsen (Williams) dies in an accident, he tr...)

    1998
  • Watch My Best Friend's Wedding

    (Two friends (Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney) go from a...)

    1997
  • Watch When A Man Loves A Woman

    (A happily married couple finds their relationship startin...)

    1994
  • Watch The Joy Luck Club

    (Young women explore the difficulties of mother/daughter r...)

    1993
  • Watch Dangerous Minds

    (A former Marine uses unconventional methods to teach trou...)

    1995
  • Watch Passion of Mind

    (Marty is a New York literary agent, devoted to her work. ...)

    2000
  • Rain Man 1988
  • Invisible Child 1999
  • Code Name: Emerald 1985
  • Watch Gardens Of Stone 1987

Personality

Physical Characteristics: From the age of 3 to 11, Bass was afflicted with an undiagnosed condition that kept him bedridden. His symptoms included respiratory problems and stomach pains with high fevers and nausea.

Connections

During his life, Bass was married twice. First time, he was married to Gail Weinstein. The couple, however, got divorced and he married Christine Steinmann. Bass has two daughters, Jennifer and Sasha.

Sister:

Diane Bass

ex-wife:

Gail Weinstein

Wife:

Christine Steinmann

Daughter:

Jennifer Bass

Daughter:

Sasha Bass

colleague:

Jen Smolka