Broyles found critical success with the television series China Beach. In addition to co-creating the show with John Sacret Young, Broyles also wrote or co-wrote several of the early episodes, and remained producer and creative consultant throughout the run of the show. In 1991, the Golden Globe-winning China Beach went off the air, but Broyles was well into production on his second television project, Under Cover, a political espionage series following the adventures of husband-and-wife secret service agents, Dylan and Kate Del'Amico. The series was short-lived, and Broyles next adapted the Nigel Hamilton book, J.F.K.: Reckless Youth, for a 1993 television mini-series of the same name starring Patrick Dempsey as the young future president. Also in 1993, Broyles turned his attention from television projects to writing feature films. He shares his first screenwriting credit with former Texas Monthly writer, Al Reinert for Apollo 13. The film, based loosely on the book Lost Moon, co-authored by astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, was directed by Ron Howard. It was met with both critical and box office success, and Broyles and Reinert were nominated for the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. After Apollo 13, Broyles began work on Cast Away, an original screenplay about a FedEx engineer stranded on a deserted island. Released in 2000, the film was produced by Tom Hanks, directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Hanks as the resilient Chuck Noland. Apollo 13 and Cast Away secured Broyles's place as an A-list Hollywood screenwriter. Other writing credits in motion pictures include Entrapment (1999), Planet of the Apes (2001), Unfaithful (2002), The Polar Express (2004), Jarhead (2005), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). Personal life On November 5, 1988, Broyles married actress Linda Purl. They later divorced. His second wife was Sybil Ann Newman (later Mrs. James Raney), with whom he had two children. He married, thirdly, to Andrea Bettina Berndt. They have two daughters. Filmography See also Wilson the Volleyball References Archival sources The William Broyles Jr. Papers 1962–2002 (106 linear feet) are housed at the Wittliff Collections, Texas State University in San Marcos. External links Allbusiness.com Article by Broyles on his experiences in Vietnam 1944 births Alumni of the University of Oxford American memoirists United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War United States Marine Corps officers American male screenwriters American science fiction writers American television writers Living people Marshall Scholars Military personnel from Houston People