Oliver Stone Honored by Writers Guild of America West for Career

By Dave McNary

Oliver Stone, whose films include Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Wall Street, has been selected to receive the Writers Guild of America West’s 2017 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.

He will be honored at the guild’s awards show on Feb. 19 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

“Oliver Stone may be our most committed screenwriter, using an unparalleled sense of conflict and drama to define the past half century,” said WGA West President Howard A. Rodman. “Stone’s Vietnam trilogy – ‘Platoon,’ ‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ ‘Heaven & Earth’ – not only illuminated the war, but made us face its consequences.”

“His unofficial and extraordinary history of the 1960s and 1970s – from ‘JFK’ and ‘The Doors’ through ‘Nixon’ and ‘Wall Street’ – wove a coherent narrative from incoherent facts. His dialogue is always memorable: think of Gordon Gekko’s ‘greed is good,’ or Tony Manero’s 182 ‘f–ks’ in Scarface. But even Stone’s most amoral characters are, in the end, like us: all too human. Stone has held a mirror up to our times, and dares us again and again to look at our nation – and ourselves — without turning away.”

Stone said, “As a young screenwriter I remember seeing so many I admired graced with the Laurel Award, and I never expected I’d be considered their peer. I am most honored to accept this great award.”

Stone served in the U.S. Army Infantry in Vietnam in 1967-68, having been wounded twice in combat and ultimately earning the Bronze Star for Valor, Purple Heart, and other medals of honor during his military career. Platoon, written and directed by Stone, earned him Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture; Born on the Fourth of July earned Stone a pair of Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.