The first person to win twice in this category was
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who won the award in two consecutive years, 1949 and 1950. Others to win twice in this category include
George Seaton,
Robert Bolt (who also won in consecutive years),
Francis Ford Coppola,
Mario Puzo,
Alvin Sargent,
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala,
Michael Wilson,
Alexander Payne and
Christopher Hampton. Payne won both awards as part of a writing team, with
Jim Taylor for
Sideways and
Jim Rash and
Nat Faxon for
The Descendants.
Michael Wilson was
blacklisted at the time of his second Oscar, so the award was given to a front (novelist
Pierre Boulle). However, the Academy officially recognized him as the winner several years later.
Billy Wilder,
Charles Brackett,
Paddy Chayefsky,
Francis Ford Coppola,
Horton Foote,
William Goldman,
Robert Benton,
Bo Goldman,
Waldo Salt, and the
Coen brothers have won Oscars for both original and adapted screenplays.
Frances Marion (
The Big House) was the first woman to win in any screenplay category, although she won for her original script for Best Writing, which then included both original and adapted screenplays before a separate award for Best Original Screenplay was introduced.
Sarah Y. Mason (
Little Women) was the first woman to win for adaptation from previously established material; she shared the award with her husband,
Victor Heerman. They are also the first of two married couples to win in this category;
Peter Jackson and
Fran Walsh (
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) are the others.
Pierre Collings and
Sheridan Gibney (
The Story of Louis Pasteur) were the first to win for adapting their own work.
Philip G. Epstein and
Julius J. Epstein (
Casablanca) are the first siblings to win in this category.
James Goldman (
The Lion in Winter) and
William Goldman (''
All the President's Men) are the first siblings to win for separate films. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men'') are the third winning siblings.
Mario Puzo is the one of two writers whose work has been adapted and resulted in two wins. Puzo's novel
The Godfather resulted in wins in 1972 and 1974 for himself and
Francis Ford Coppola. The other is
E. M. Forster, whose novels
A Room with a View and
Howards End resulted in wins for
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
Larry McMurtry is the only person who has won for adapting someone else's work (
Brokeback Mountain), and whose own work has been adapted by someone else, resulting in a win (
Terms of Endearment.
William Monahan (
The Departed and
Sian Heder (
CODA) are the only people who have won this award by using another full-length feature film as the credited source of the adaptation.
Geoffrey S. Fletcher (
Precious),
John Ridley (
12 Years a Slave) and
Cord Jefferson (
American Fiction) are the only African-Americans to win solo in this category; Fletcher is also the first African-American to win in any writing category.
Barry Jenkins and
Tarell Alvin McCraney (
Moonlight are the first African-American writing duo to win;
Spike Lee and
Kevin Willmott (
BlacKkKlansman) are the second, although their co-writers, David Rabinowitz and
Charlie Wachtel, are both white.
James Ivory (
Call Me by Your Name) is the oldest person to receive the award at age 89. Charlie Wachtel (
BlacKkKlansman) is the youngest at age 32.
Taika Waititi (
Jojo Rabbit is the first person of
Māori descent to receive the award.
Emma Thompson (
Sense and Sensibility) is the only winner who has also won for acting. Winners
Billy Bob Thornton (
Sling Blade) and
John Huston (
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) have been nominated for acting but not won.
Charles Schnee (
The Bad and the Beautiful,
Billy Bob Thornton (
Sling Blade), and
Bill Condon (
Gods and Monsters) are the only winners whose respective films were not nominated for
Best Picture. ==Notable nominees==