Linda Woolverton is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals. She became the first woman to write an animated feature for Disney by writing the screenplay of Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. She also wrote the screenplay of The Lion King, and adaptated her own Beauty and the Beast screenplay on the book of the Broadway adaptation of the film, receiving a Tony Award nomination for this. Her most recent works include the screenplay of Alice in Wonderland, a huge box office success, making Linda the first and only female screenplayer with a sole writing credit on a billion-dollar film, and the screenplay of Maleficent. 

December 19th, 1952 in Long Beach (Age 71)