Gregory Allen Howard
Born(1952-01-28)January 28, 1952
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
DiedJanuary 27, 2023(2023-01-27) (aged 70)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University
OccupationScreenwriter
Notable workRemember the Titans, Harriet, Ali
Parent
  • Narcissus Cole Howard Henley (mother)
RelativesLenard Henley (step-father), Debbie Howard (sister)

Gregory Allen Howard (January 28, 1952 – January 27, 2023) was an American journalist, playwright and Hollywood screenwriter.[1][2] He is best known for composing the screenplay to Disney’s award-winning mega movie staple Remember the Titans,[3] a film chronicling the real life story of the racial barrier-breaking T.C. Williams High School football team[4] recognized as the sports force to incite community integration in its notoriously Deep South-segregated Alexandria, Virginia of 1971.[5][6] Howard is the first African American screenwriter in Hollywood history to script a $100 million dollar-generating motion picture drama,[7] and the only African American screenwriter in film history to write a spec script that garnered $100 million dollars in revenue.[8][9]

Early life

Gregory Allen Howard was born on January 28, 1952 in Norfolk, Virginia.[10] As the second of two children born to Narcissus Cole Howard, a full time mother-turned school teacher, and Lowry Marion Howard, Gregory and sister Debbie would see their mother's marriage to their "card shark" father end in divorce early on their childhood.[11] When Gregory was five-years-old, mother Narcissus was remarried to Lenard Henley, a US Navy sailor who would become step-father to Gregory and older sister Debbie and would go on to father Gregory's younger sister Lynette Henley and brother Michael Henley.[12][13] Due to his stepfather's military naval duty, Gregory and his family engaged annum-frequencies of out-of-state moves to Navy bases set in several different US cities.[14] Over the course of a decade of Gregory's coming of age years, between the ages of five and 15, the Howard-Henley family moved a total of ten times. The period of relocations, which included stops in Norfolk, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, San Diego, California, Charleston, South Carolina, is an era that Gregory Howard described in his own words as "a vagabond existence that you live as a Navy family." [15] Eventually, the family settled in "The Navy City" of Vallejo, California.[14] Howard attended Vallejo High School, where he served as Vallejo High School class president.[15] At Vallejo High, Howard was also an offensive lineman on the Vallejo Red Hawks football team.[14] After attending college at Princeton University, graduating with a degree in American history, Howard briefly worked at Merrill Lynch on Wall Street before moving to Los Angeles in his mid-twenties to pursue a writing career.[16]

Career

Over the next few years Howard worked as a freelance writer and on a number of television shows, including being a story editor for Where I Live and working on the 1990 short-lived FOX series True Colors. Howard also wrote a stage play, Tinseltown Trilogy, which garnered him awards.[17] Tinseltown Trilogy weaves together three interconnected one-act plays that focus on three men in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve.

Howard was then selected for the assignment to write an original screenplay for the biographical film of boxer Muhammad Ali.[18] Having finished the first draft and then moving back to his native Virginia, Howard discovered the story of the 1971 TC Williams Titans. Studio delays and rewrites meant that his first feature film, Ali, was not released until after his next script, Remember the Titans.

Remember the Titans was a spec script written by Gregory Allen Howard after he discovered the unique story of the integrated high school football team that the town of Alexandria, Virginia credited for the town's positive race relations. He based the script on extensive research, including discussions with Coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast. Initially Howard encountered difficulty in getting his script produced. Eventually Jerry Bruckheimer agreed to produce the film.[19] Starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton, Remember the Titans became a box-office hit, grossing over $100 million domestically.[20]

After the release of Remember the Titans and Ali, Howard worked on a number of other projects. He was an uncredited writer for Glory Road, a sports drama released in 2006 that focused on Texas Western coach Don Haskins leading the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship in 1966.[21]

In 2004, Howard worked on the script for a film project with Morgan Freeman based on the 761st Tank Battalion, the first black armored unit to see combat in World War II.[22] Howard also wrote a screenplay called Factor X, which Ridley Scott was attached to produce in 2006.[23]

In 2014, Howard completed the screenplay of a movie about the Soviet Airwomen of the Great Patriotic War called Night Witches and financed by the grandson of Boris Yeltsin.[24] He co-wrote and co-produced the 2019 Harriet Tubman biographical film Harriet, for which he also received a "story by" credit.[25][26][27]

On November 12, 2019, Howard's Black Panther Party script Power to the People was acquired by Paramount Pictures with George Tillman Jr. in talks to direct and Ben Affleck producing.[28]

In 2020, Gregory Allen Howard was nominated[29] for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture[30] over his screenplay for the Hollywood biopic film Harriet,[29] based on the life and legacy of Harriet “The Black Moses” Tubman, famed conductor of The Underground Railroad.[31] In the weeks leading to the November 1st, 2019 US movie release of Harriet, Mr. Howard engaged several press interviews with mentions of racial inequality in Hollywood.[32] In a well documented 2019 interview with journalist Alissa Wilkinson, during which time he noted Harriet Tubman as “the underdog of underdogs," Howard, a staunch historian, revealed Harriet the film was 25-years in-the-making.[33] With reference made to the Oscars So White movement,[34] Howard alluded to the change that he said had to happen before Hollywood was ready for film production of his Harriet screenplay.[35] “Listen, I wrote this. It’s my Valentine to black girls,”Howard noted. “If it inspires some black girls that they can do something amazing, then I’ve done my job.”[36][37]

Death

Howard died from heart failure in Miami on January 27, 2023, one day shy of his 71st birthday.[14][38]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Film or series
2001 Black Reel Awards Won Theatrical - Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) Remember the Titans
2002 Nominated Theatrical - Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) Ali
2020 NAACP Image Awards Nominated[39] NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture (Film)[39] Harriet

References

  1. ↑ Crowther, Linnea (January 31, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard (1952–2023), Remember the Titans screenwriter". Legacy.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  2. ↑ Rehagen, Tony (September 23, 2021). "50 Years Later, the Team Reveals the True Story of Remember the Titans". Northern Virginia Magazine. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  3. ↑ Traub, Alex (January 30, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard, Screenwriter of 'Remember the Titans,' Dies at 70". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  4. ↑ "High school from iconic Denzel Washington movie 'Remember The Titans' is changing its name due to racism". The Hill. April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  5. ↑ "CNN Transcript - CNN Today: Gregory Allen Howard Discusses Era of Integration in 'Remember the Titans' - January 15, 2001". www.cnn.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  6. ↑ "ENPRIMEUR.CA". www.enprimeur.ca. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Gregory Allen Howard, screenwriter of 'Remember the Titans,' dies at 70". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  8. ↑ MARK KENNEDY (January 29, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard, who wrote 'Remember the Titans,' dies at 70". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  9. ↑ "AP Top 25 sports movies list, vote totals". AP NEWS. April 20, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  10. ↑ Thomas, Carly (January 28, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard, 'Remember the Titans' and 'Harriet' Writer, Dies at 70". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Vallejo screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard dies". Times-Herald. January 30, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ By (October 5, 2000). "TITANS WRITER FOUND HIS INSPIRATION BY ACCIDENT". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  13. ↑ Crowther, Linnea (January 31, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard (1952–2023), Remember the Titans screenwriter". Legacy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Traub, Alex (January 29, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard, Screenwriter of 'Remember the Titans,' Dies at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Vallejo screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard dies". Times-Herald. January 30, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ "About | Gregory Allen Howard". www.gregoryallenhoward.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Gregory Howard | HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  18. ↑ Ezra, Michael (2009). Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon. The United States of America: Temple University. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-5921-3-661-2.
  19. ↑ Howard, Gregory Allen (September 20, 2000). "Remembering the History of 'Titans'". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Remember the Titans: Domestic Total Gross". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  21. ↑ Hartman, Forrest (January 13, 2006). "Movie critic rooting for feel-good 'Glory Road'". news.rgj.com. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Actor Freeman plans war tribute". news.bbc.co.uk. June 16, 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  23. ↑ Miller, Jodie (October 24, 2006). "Eric Bana Has The Factor X". screenrush.co.uk. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  24. ↑ "'Remember the Titans' Scribe to Pen World War II Drama 'Night Witches'", Variety Magazine, November 4, 2013.
  25. ↑ Dave McNary, ""Harriet Tubman Biopic in Development From 'Homeland' Director", Variety, May 2, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Charles D. King's MACRO, Debra Martin Chase and Director Seith Mann Team Up for Harriet Tubman Film", Shadow and Act April 20, 2017.
  27. ↑ Amanda N'Duka, "Cynthia Erivo To Star As Harriet Tubman In Upcoming 'Harriet' Biopic", Deadline Hollywood February 8, 2017.
  28. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 12, 2020). "Paramount In Talks For George Tillman Jr-Helmed Black Panthers Pic 'Power To The People'; Script By 'Harriet's Gregory Allen Howard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  29. 1 2 Howard, Katherine Schaffstall,Annie; Schaffstall, Katherine; Howard, Annie (February 22, 2020). "NAACP Image Awards: Lizzo Named Entertainer of the Year; 'Just Mercy,' 'Black-ish' Among Top Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ↑ "2020 NAACP Image Awards: The Complete Winners List | Entertainment Tonight". www.etonline.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Print The Legend: Writing The Screenplay For Harriet". Focus Features. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Hollywood exec suggested Julia Roberts play Harriet Tubman, biopic screenwriter says". NBC News. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  33. ↑ "A Hollywood executive suggested Julia Roberts play Harriet Tubman, screenwriter said. The Internet was furious". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Oscar nominees discuss diversity in Hollywood amid the #OscarsSoWhite backlash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  35. ↑ Howard, Gregory Allen (November 19, 2019). "Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman? Gregory Allen Howard on 'Harriet's' difficult journey to the big screen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  36. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (November 4, 2019). "Why "the whole environment in Hollywood had to change" for Harriet to get made". Vox. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  37. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 12, 2016). "Ballerina Misty Copeland's Life Story To Big Screen; New Line Sets 'Remember The Titans' Scribe Gregory Allen Howard". Deadline. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  38. ↑ Haring, Bruce (January 27, 2023). "Gregory Allen Howard Dies: Screenwriter On 'Remember The Titans' And Producer Was 70". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  39. 1 2 "Nominees Announced for 51st NAACP Image Awards | NAACP". naacp.org. January 9, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
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