Harold and Maude is a 1971 American romantic black comedy drama based on play written by Colin Higgins and published as a novel in 1971
Colin Higgins (1941 – 1988) was an Australian-American screenwriter, actor, director, and producer.
After graduating from Stanford he attended a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts (screenwriting ) at the University of California at Los Angeles.
He wrote ”Harold and Maude”, a 20-minute drama, as the basis for his master’s thesis. At the time he was poor and, in return for accommodation at the home of a Hollywood producer, he cleaned the pool and swept the tennis court. But he was lucky because he showed the script to the producer’s wife who was so impressed that she got her husband to give it to Stanley Jaffe at Paramount.
WILDsound Festival 