An avid reader as a child, Shane Black knew that one day he wanted to be a writer.

After graduating from UCLA, Black was just 22 when he sold his first screenplay, Lethal Weapon (1987).

The movie, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, was a huge hit and Black was asked to write three sequels.

He received $1.75 million for his fourth screenplay, The Last Boy Scout (1991), the largest amount paid out for a screenplay at that time. He went on to sell The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) for over $2 million.

Despite being the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood, after penning the script for A.W.O.L. (1999) he took a break to get away from action movies.

Remembering his childhood love for 1960s books about private detectives, he returned to the Hollywood scene to direct his character-driven script, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) starring Robert Downey Jr., based in part on Brett Halliday's novel about a private eye.

Screenwriter, Comics, Entertainers, Producers and Directors, Entertainment Industry, Filmmaking, Journalism, Celebrity Screenwriting,