David Giler is an American screenwriter, producer, and director who has been active in the entertainment industry since the late 1960s. He is best known for his work on films such as Alien, The Parallax View, and The War of the Roses.
Giler was born in New York City in 1942. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a degree in English. After college, he began working in television, writing for shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Virginian. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film.
Giler’s first major film credit was as a co-writer on The Parallax View (1974). He was then hired to write the screenplay for the classic horror-sci-fi film Alien (1979), which he co-wrote with Walter Hill and Dan O’Bannon. Alien went on to become a classic, spawning multiple sequels and prequels.
In 1980, Giler wrote and directed the comedy-drama Personal Best, starring Mariel Hemingway. He also wrote and produced the action-thriller The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and the comedy The War of the Roses (1989). Giler served as a producer on the four Alien sequels, and was one of the writers on Alien: Resurrection (1997).
In addition to writing and producing films, Giler has also directed several television movies, including the made-for-TV thriller The Night Caller (1989). He was also a writer and producer on the TV series Tales from the Crypt, and executive producer on the series The X-Files.
Throughout his career, Giler has earned numerous awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Alien and a Writers Guild of America Award for Alien 3. He has also been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austin Film Festival.
Giler is one of the most influential figures in the science fiction and horror genres. His work on Alien continues to be praised as some of the best in the genre, and his influence can be seen in many of the films and TV shows that have followed.
