Charles Shyer

Charles Richard Shyer (born October 11, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Shyer's films are predominantly comedies, often with a romantic-comedy overtone. His writing and directing credits include Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), and Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent Trap (1998), The Affair of the Necklace (L'Affaire du Collier) (2001), Alfie (2004), and Ieri, Oggi Domani (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) (2012), 'The Noel Diary' (2022). Early life Shyer was born in Los Angeles, the son of Lois (née Jones) Delaney and Melville Shyer, a production executive and film director. Shyer grew up in the film industry where his father worked with D.W. Griffith and was one of the founders of the Directors Guild of America. After attending UCLA, he was accepted into the DGA's apprenticeship program, which led to work as an assistant director. However, Shyer's focus was soon diverted to writing and he went to work as an assistant to Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, producers of the TV series The Odd Couple. He eventually worked his way up to Head Writer and Associate Producer on the popular series in the early seventies. He is of Jewish descent. Career After The Odd Couple, Shyer transitioned into feature films and received his first writing credit on Smokey and the Bandit (1977), starring Burt Reynolds. The following year, Shyer co-wrote Goin' South, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, and received his first Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay for the Walter Matthau/Glenda Jackson film "House Calls" (1978). In 1979, Shyer teamed up with Nancy Meyers and Harvey Miller to write and produce Private Benjamin, starring Goldie Hawn in the Oscar-nominated lead role of Private Judy Benjamin. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, that a female lead with no male star was box office poison, this story of a pampered young woman who joins the Army was a box office success. Receiving positive reviews from critics and ranking number one at the box office its opening weekend, Private Benjamin went on to gross nearly seventy million dollars within the US and over one hundred million worldwide. The screenplay for Private Benjamin won Shyer, Meyers and Miller the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Comedy and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Screenplay category.