Bill Sherwood
Encyclopedia
William Charles Patrick Sherwood, better known as Bill Sherwood (June 14, 1952 – February 10, 1990) was an American musician, screenwriter and film director.
Sherwood was born in Washington, D.C.
, and grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan. A talented violinist, he attended the National Music Camp and graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan in 1970, where he majored in composition. He then moved to New York City, where he was a composition student of Elliott Carter
at The Juilliard School. Discouraged by his progress and fascinated by the cultural and social upheavals going on in New York at the time, he discontinued his composition studies, eventually enrolling at Hunter College
as a composition major, where he earned a degree and made several short films.
He had a promising career as a filmmaker, but died in New York City
from AIDS
complications, without having fulfilled his potential. He is best known for his 1986 film Parting Glances
, made for $310,000, a bittersweet romantic comedy that spans a 24 hour period in the upwardly-mobile New York gay scene. He wrote half a dozen screenplays and completed three short films in the six years before Parting Glances, and wrote two-and-a-half more screenplays in the four years after. They were never produced.
Sherwood was born in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan. A talented violinist, he attended the National Music Camp and graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan in 1970, where he majored in composition. He then moved to New York City, where he was a composition student of Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
at The Juilliard School. Discouraged by his progress and fascinated by the cultural and social upheavals going on in New York at the time, he discontinued his composition studies, eventually enrolling at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
as a composition major, where he earned a degree and made several short films.
He had a promising career as a filmmaker, but died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
complications, without having fulfilled his potential. He is best known for his 1986 film Parting Glances
Parting Glances
thumb|Parting Glances released on VHS format in 1998Parting Glances is an American film shot in 1984 and released in 1986. With its realistic look at urban gay life in the Ronald Reagan era and at the height of the AIDS crisis, many film critics consider it an important movie in the history of gay...
, made for $310,000, a bittersweet romantic comedy that spans a 24 hour period in the upwardly-mobile New York gay scene. He wrote half a dozen screenplays and completed three short films in the six years before Parting Glances, and wrote two-and-a-half more screenplays in the four years after. They were never produced.