Michael Tolkin

Michael Tolkin is an award-winning American writer, director, and producer. His novel The Player (1988) became a satirical black comedy film directed by Robert Altman. For the movie adaptation, Tolkin won the Writers Guild Award, the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the PEN Center USA West Literary Award, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Crime Screenplay.

Michael Tolkin was born to a Romanian-Jewish and Ukrainian-Jewish family in New York City. He is the son of Edith Leibovitch, a studio executive and film industry lawyer, and the comedy writer Mel Tolkin.

Michael Tolkin is a 1974 graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in American Studies.

Tolkin wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film The Rapture, which he also directed. He has worked on other notable films such as Deep Impact (1998), Changing Lanes (2002), and Nine (2009).

Also, Tolkin has been a consulting producer and writer for the Showtime series Ray Donovan. His most recent TV project is a biographical drama miniseries, The Offer (2022).

His novels include bed master (1988), Among the Dead (1993), Under Radar (2003), and The Return of the Player (2006).

His most recent book is NK3, a dystopian Los Angeles thriller, and an existentialist horror story.

Michael Tolkin lives in Los Angeles with his wife, author Wendy Mogel. They have two daughters.

Photo credit: www.michaeltolkin.com