Elder married actress Judyann Elder in 1969 , and the two had a son , Christian . He moved the family to Los Angeles to pursue an already burgeoning career writing for television . His first motion picture assignment was adapting William H. Armstrong 's novel '' Sounder '' into a screenplay to be directed by acclaimed director Martin Ritt . The movie , a story about a poor family of Southern sharecroppers in the Great Depression , enjoyed instantaneous success . Pauline Kael , in her review of '' Sounder '' , wrote : " The director , Martin Ritt , working from a scrupulous , unsentimental script by Lonne Elder III , based on the William H. Armstrong novel , avoids charging up the scenes ... the movie earns every emotion we feel . And I think it will move audiences – move them truly , that is – as few films ever have . " The film garnered four nominations at the 45th Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay . Elder was the first African-American male to receive this honor and went on to write the sequel
45th Academy Awards
45th Academy Awards
Lonne Elder III