Horton Foote

He adapted William Faulkner's "Old Man" to television twice, in 1958 and 1997; receiving Emmy nominations both years, and winning for the 1997 drama (Outstanding Writing of a Miniseries or Special).

In addition to Faulkner's Old Man, he also adapted Faulkner's short story Tomorrow into a 1972 film starring Robert Duvall. Foote had previously adapted the story into a play for television's Playhouse 90 in 1960. Leonard Maltin, in his movie guide book, calls the movie the best film adaptation of any of Faulkner's work. On the subject of Faulkner, Foote said, "Faulkner I never met but evidently he liked [my adaptations] because he's allowed me to share the dramatic copyrights to both Old Man and Tomorrow ... So in other words, you have to get both our permissions to do it."

Other film scripts include Baby the Rain Must Fall starring Steve McQueen and Lee Remick, which was based on his play The Travelling Lady. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan who had worked with Foote on To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962.

Foote received an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Screen Award for his adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird in 1963. Foote did not attend the Oscars ceremony in 1963 because he did not expect to win, and so was not present to collect the award in person, however, it was accepted on his behalf by the film's producer, Alan J. Pakula.

His nine-play biographical series, mainly about his father, The Orphans' Home Cycle (Roots in a Parched Ground, Convicts, Lily Dale, The Widow Claire, Courtship, Valentine's Day, 1918, Cousins, and The Death of Papa) ran in repertory Off-Broadway in 2009–2010. The combined productions received a Special Drama Desk Award "To the cast, creative team and producers of Horton Foote's epic The Orphans' Home Cycle". Parts of the series had been produced as separate plays previously: Convicts, Lily Dale, Courtship, Valentine's Day and 1918 were filmed, the latter three being shown on PBS in 1987 as a mini-series titled The Story of A Marriage.

He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Spalding University (Louisville, Kentucky) in 1987.

Foote was married to Lillian Vallish Foote (1923–1992) from June 4, 1945 until her death in 1992. Their four children are actors Albert Horton Foote III and Hallie Foote, playwright Daisy Brooks Foote, and director, writer and lawyer Walter Vallish Foote.

In 1996, Foote was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

He won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Young Man From Atlanta. The Goodman Theatre production that was presented on Broadway in 1997 was nominated for the Tony Award Best Play, but did not win. The production starred Rip Torn, Shirley Knight and Biff McGuire. Knight and McGuire were also nominated for Tony Awards.

In 2000, Foote was honored with the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist.

In December 2000, President Bill Clinton presented Foote with the National Medal of Arts, saying that he is "the nation's most prolific writer for stage, film, and television."

Baylor University also holds close ties with Foote. In 2002, Foote accepted the title as "Visiting Distinguished Dramatist" with the Baylor Department of Theatre Arts.

Foote was awarded an honorary doctorate from Carson-Newman University in 2006.

They have worked on projects with their father. Hallie and Albert Horton Foote III (aka Horton Jr.) appeared in their father's film 1918 (1985). Hallie has appeared on stage in her father's works, including, for example, Dividing the Estate in 2008, The Orphans' Home Cycle Part III: The Story of a Family in 2010 and Harrison, TX: Three Plays by Horton Foote Off-Broadway in 2012. Daisy wrote the play When They Speak of Rita (2000) in which Hallie appeared and was directed by their father.