Gregory Allen Howard, the screenwriter who wrote Harriet and Remember the Titans, died in Miami on Friday.
The news was confirmed by his representative Jeff Sanderson, according to the hollywood reporter.
It came after Howard battled a brief illness. He was 70 years old.
Sad loss: Gregory Allen Howard, the screenwriter who wrote Harriet and Remember the Titans, died in Miami on Friday
Howard moved to Los Angeles in the ’90s to pursue his dream of becoming a screenwriter.
Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, the talented writer gained notoriety in the early 2000s after penning the Denzel Washington-directed film Remember the Titans.
The true story follows Herman Boone, an African-American football coach who is tasked with coaching a high school team during its first racially integrated season of the sport in 1971.
The film earned him the accolade of being the first African-American screenwriter to pen a $100 million script for a drama. Variety informed.
Dream Come True: Howard dreamed of bringing the action-adventure film Harriet to life for two decades; pictured with the movie star Cynthia Erivo in 2019
Howard, who earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from Princeton University, dreamed of bringing the action-adventure film Harriet to life for two decades.
The idea came to him after studying the historical figure while at Princeton.
The film, which stars Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Janelle Monae, earned two Oscar nominations.
in a Focus Features 2019 Interview the writer-producer said of the feature, ‘To me, this film is my valentine to black women. I wanted them to be able to go to the movies on Saturday and see this young black woman take on this incredible power structure and win over it.’
Decorated: During his career, he won two NAACP Image Awards, Howard University’s Paul Robeson Award for Artistic Excellence, and the Heartland Film Festival Award for Excellence in Screenwriting; photographed in 2001
How it started: After studying Harriet Tubman at Princeton University, the writer was inspired to write the screenplay.
Gregory also earned a writing credit for the film Ali, which starred Will Smith and Jamie Foxx.
During his career, he won two NAACP Image Awards, Howard University’s Paul Robeson Award for Artistic Excellence, and the Heartland Film Festival Award for Excellence in Screenwriting.
Howard was a longtime Huffington Post contributor, writing the 2016 articles the big loser and 2017 The whitewashing of James Brown.
His most recent work was the civil rights project Power to the People, written for producer Ben Affleck and Paramount Pictures.
At the time of his death, Howard was working on a biopic about quarterback Marlin ‘The Magician’ Briscoe, titled The Magician.
Impressive: Gregory also got a writing credit for the movie Ali, which starred Will Smith and Jamie Foxx.
He leaves behind sister Lynette Henley and brother Michael Henley, nieces Robyn Bacon and Valencia Kamara, and nephew Robert Henley.
Howard is also survived by a great-niece and two great-nephews, and cousins Pierre Gatling and the Honorable Patricia Cole, reported Deadline.
She was preceded in death by her siblings Camille Cole Howard and her brother, Ricardo J. Henley.
Breakout: Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, the talented writer gained notoriety in the early 2000s after penning the Denzel Washington-directed film Remember the Titans.