Gregory Allen Howard, who wrote Remember the Giants and is a producer and writer behind Harrietpassed away on Friday.
His agent, Jeff Sanderson, confirmed hollywood reporter that he died in Miami, Florida, after a brief illness. Sanderson said Howard was 70 years old, although another agency representing the writer said he was 61.
Howard, born in Norfolk, Virginia, moved to Los Angeles in the ’90s to pursue a career as a screenwriter. He started making a name for himself in the early 2000s, writing Boaz Yakin .’s award-winning work Remember the Giants, starring Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, and Donald Faison. Based on a true story, the film follows the story of Herman Boone, a new African-American soccer coach as he coaches a high school team during their first season as a football player. racially integrated group.
He later earned Michael Mann’s story writing credit Ali, 2001 biographical film about sports legend Muhammad Ali. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, starring Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Jon Voight.
In 2019, Howard turned a story he was deeply passionate about into reality — Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet – which he wrote and produced. He previously said that the story was made more than 20 years after studying with Harriet Tubman as a history major at Princeton University. He remembers how her life spoke to him and inspired him to want to turn it into an action-adventure movie. At the red carpet premiere of HarrietHoward said CHEAP, “What I look forward to more than anything is that the entire industry will change. Must have #OscarsSoWhite and [more] diversity in Hollywood. All of that has to happen, because whoever gives this movie the green light is risking their jobs and/or careers.”
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, starring Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe and Leslie Odom Jr. When talking about what the film meant to him, Howard said in a 2019 interview for Focus Features, “For me, this movie is my Valentine. for black women. I want them to be able to go to the movies on Saturday and see this young black woman take on this incredible power structure and win it.”
Howard has several projects in development, including magiciana biopic about quarterback Marlin “The Magician” Briscoe.
He is survived by his sister Lynette Henley, brother Michael Henley, nieces, nephews and nieces.
