‘ET’ writer Melissa Mathison dies

Mathison’s first major Hollywood film project was 1979’s adaptation of the Walter Farley novel “The Black Stallion”.

It was her collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on “ET” the Extra-Terrestrial three years later that launched her into the stratosphere – and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Mathison would continue working sporadically on family films such as “The Indian in the Cupboard” and “Ponyo” throughout the next three decades.

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She also wrote “Kundun”, the true story of Dalai Lama’s exile from his spiritual home of Tibet.

Most recently, she re-teamed with ET’s Steven Spielberg to adapt the beloved Roald Dahl children’s story The BFG for a 2016 film.

Mathison was married for 21 years to Hollywood legend Harrison Ford, with whom she had a son called Malcolm and a daughter named Georgia.