Jeremy Larner, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the acclaimed Robert Redford film The Candidate, has passed away.
Videos by Suggest
The writer’s son, Jesse Larner, told The New York Times that his father died on Feb. 24 at a nursing facility in Oakland, California. The 88-year-old was diagnosed with lymphoma in January and had been living with Parkinson’s disease since 2013, but a specific cause of death was not disclosed.
Born in Olean, New York, on March 20, 1937, Larner graduated from Brandeis University in 1958. He wrote several books throughout the 1960s, including his 1964 debut novel Drive, He Said, which was adapted into a 1971 film co-written and directed by Jack Nicholson.
Jeremy Larner, Who Wrote ‘The Candidate,’ a Political Film Classic, Dies at 88 https://t.co/Rap1eSDzEk
— Peter Avellino (@PeterAPeel) March 7, 2026
As a journalist, Larner also wrote for publications such as Harper’s, The Paris Review, and Life. Larner was also a speechwriter for Eugene McCarthy during his 1968 campaign for president, which inspired his book Nobody Knows, serialized for Harper’s in ’69.
Jeremy Larner Pens an Oscar Winning Script
Larner’s experience on the campaign also influenced his script for the 1972 film The Candidate. Directed by Michael Ritchie, the movie starred Robert Redford as Bill McKay, a leftist lawyer groomed to run for a Senate seat who quickly becomes a popular public figure.
The film earned Larner an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Larner, in his Oscar night in 1973 acceptance speech, thanked “the political figures of our time who’ve given me terrific inspiration. I think as long as they continue to do the things they do and to use the words that they use, words like ‘honor,’ there’ll be better pictures and sharper pictures even than The Candidate.”
Larner also wrote speeches for politician Bill Bradley, activist Sam Brown, and actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford, covering topics like the Vietnam War and environmentalism.
He is survived by his sons, Jesse and Zachary, and his brother, Daniel. He was married to his Brandeis classmate, Susan Berlin, from 1960 until their divorce in 1968.