Editing William Goldman (section)

==Early life==
Goldman was born in Chicago on August 12, 1931, the second son of Marion ({{née|Weil}}) and Maurice Clarence Goldman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Goldman Biography (1931–) |url= http://www.filmreference.com/film/4/William-Goldman.html |publisher= | website= filmreference.com}}</ref> He grew up in [[Highland Park, Illinois]], and was raised [[Jewish]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erens |first=Patricia |title=[[The Jew in American Cinema]] |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-253-20493-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-v2Di_5ShGMC&q=william%20goldman&pg=PA392 392]}}</ref> Goldman's father was a successful businessman, working in Chicago and in a partnership, but he suffered from alcoholism, which cost him his business. He "came home to live and he was in his pajamas for the last five years of his life," according to Goldman.{{sfn|Egan|2014|p=6}} His father died by suicide while Goldman was still in high school. It was a 15-year-old Goldman who discovered the body. His mother was deaf, which created additional stress in the home.{{sfn|Egan|2014|p=6–7}}

===Education and military service===
Goldman attended [[Oberlin College]] in [[Oberlin, Ohio]]. According to his memoir ''[[Adventures in the Screen Trade]]'' (1983), Goldman began to write when he took a creative-writing course in college. His grades in the class were "horrible".<ref name= queenan/> He was an editor of Oberlin's literary magazine. He submitted his short stories to the magazine anonymously; he recalls that the other editors read his submissions and remarked, "We can't possibly publish this shit."<ref name = queenan /> He graduated from college in 1952.

At that time, the [[Korean War]] was occurring, so he was drafted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] shortly thereafter.<ref name= "encyclopediacom">{{cite web | url= https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/william-goldman | title = Goldman, William 1931- (Harry Longbaugh, S. Morgenstern); PERSONAL| website  = [[Encyclopedia.com]]| accessdate = January 13, 2022}}</ref> Because he knew how to type, he was assigned as a clerk in [[the Pentagon]], Defense headquarters. He was discharged with the rank of [[corporal]] in September 1954. He returned to graduate studies under the [[G.I. Bill|GI Bill]], earning a [[Master of Arts]] degree at [[Columbia University]], graduating in 1956. Throughout this period, he was writing short stories in the evenings, but struggled to have them published.<ref name="nytimes obit">{{Cite web |last=Rifkin |first= Glenn |date=November 16, 2018 |title=William Goldman, Screenwriting Star and Hollywood Skeptic, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/obituaries/william-goldman-dead.html |access-date=November 16, 2018 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>