Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent (April 12, 1927 – May 9, 2019) was an American screenwriter best known for winning two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay for Julia (1977) and Ordinary People (1980), and for his later contributions to the Spider-Man film franchise.

Born Alvin Supowitz in Philadelphia to parents Isaac Supowitz and Esther Kadansky, Sargent grew up in a Jewish family alongside his older brother Herb, who also became a television writer and producer. He dropped out of Upper Darby High School during World War II and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he learned typing through Morse code training, an experience that later aided his writing career. After the war, Sargent moved to Los Angeles, initially working odd jobs such as delivering suits for director Cecil B. DeMille, before transitioning to writing in the late 1950s with television episodes for series like Ben Casey, Naked City, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

His parents were Esther (née Kadansky) and Isaac Supowitz, a grain seller; both were of Russian Jewish descent, with Sargent's grandparents having immigrated from Russia as Jewish refugees. The family was part of Philadelphia's Jewish immigrant community, where cultural traditions and economic challenges shaped their early life in the city.