Charlie Kaufman was born on November 19, 1958 in New York City to Helen and Myron Kaufman. Kaufman attended Boston University before moving to New York University to study film. He is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist.

Kaufman began writing for television with two episodes for Chris Elliott’s Get a Life during the 1991–1992 seasons.  He then went on to write for television series such as The Trouble with Larry, 1993; The Dana Carvey Show, 1996; Ned and Stacey, 1996-97. He also became the producer of television shows, including: Ned and Stacey and Misery Loves Company. He then debuted as the writer for the film Being John Malkovich in 1999, followed by the film Human Nature in 2001. He then wrote Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He also directed few films with screenplays Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015) and I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020). Besides, he was also the producer of the films Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, and Adaptation. He has been the recipient of several awards and honours including Academy award for Best screenplay, National Society of Film Critics Award for Being John Malkovich, 2000; Saturn Award for best writer, American Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, for Being John Malkovich, 2000; Best screenplay, New York Film Critics Circle Awards, for Adaptation, 2002. 

Some of his notable works include:

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 

Adaptation 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Anomalisa

Being John Malkovich

Kaufman’s scripts featured in the Writers Guild of America’s list of the 101 greatest movie screenplays ever written. He tied the nuptial knot with Denise, with whom he has a daughter named Anna Kaufman. He currently lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife and their daughter. Besides writing and direction, he is also an author of the novel Antkind (2020). In a 2016 interview, he stated that his novel is unfilmable, and that it is about “an impossible movie.”

 

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