Ernest Lehman

The screenwriter Ernest Lehman has died at the age of 89.

Lehman's credits include original screenplays for North By Northwest and Sabrina and adaptations of West Side Story, The Sound Of Music and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Lehman received six Academy Award nominations - four for his screenplays and two in the category of best picture - and also earned nine WGA Award nominations, winning the guild's top honor five times. In 2001, Lehman was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when he became the first screenwriter awarded an honorary Oscar, for his "varied and enduring work."

"I accept this rarest of honors on behalf of screenwriters everywhere, but especially those in the Writers Guild of America," he said onstage. "We have suffered anonymity far too often. I appeal to all movie critics and feature writers to please always bear in mind that a film production begins and ends with a screenplay.

More from The Hollywood Reporter.