Frank Pierson dies; writer, director, former film academy president

Academy award-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson, who recently served as the 31st president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, died Sunday evening at Cedars Sinai hospital, according to his manager Susan Landau.

He was 87.

Pierson, who won his Oscar in 1976 for his “Dog Day Afternoon”screenplay, spent many years of his career in service to the Hollywood organizations that made him a success. He served as the president of the Writers Guild of America for two distinct terms, taught at the Sundance Institute, was an adjunct professor at USC’s film school and was the artistic director of the American Film Institute.

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Pierson, born in 1925 in Chappaqua, N.Y., was educated at Harvard University. He worked as a correspondent for Time magazine before becoming a story editor for various television shows, including the western “Have Gun, Will Travel.” He made his feature directing debut in 1969 with “The Looking Glass War.”

He was nominated twice for the screenwriting Oscar before his win: in 1966 for “Cat Ballou” and in 1968 for “Cool Hand Luke.”

Most recently, Pierson was working as a consulting producer for the AMC television show “Mad Men.”

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