Erich Segal
Writer · Died January 17, 2010, aged 72 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937 – January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel Love Story (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Born and raised in a Jewish household in Brooklyn, New York, Segal was the first of three brothers. His father was a rabbi and his mother was a homemaker. His interest in writing and narrating stories developed as a child. He went to Midwood High School, during which he suffered a serious accident while canoeing. His coach advised him to jog as a part of his rehabilitation, which ended up becoming his passion and caused him to participate in the Boston Marathon more than 12 times. He attended Harvard College, graduating as both the class poet and Latin salutatorian in 1958, and then obtained his master's degree (in 1959) and a doctorate (in 1965) in comparative literature from Harvard University, after which he started teaching at Yale. In 1967, through connections on Broadway, Segal was given the opportunity to collaborate on the screenplay for the Beatles' 1968 motion picture Yellow Submarine, based on a story by Lee Minoff. His first academic book, Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus (1968), published by the Harvard University Press, gave him considerable recognition and chronicled the great Roman comic playwright who inspired the Broadway hit A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). In the late 1960s, Segal collaborated on other screenplays. He wrote a romantic story about a Harvard student and a Radcliffe student but failed to sell it. Literary agent Lois Wallace at the William Morris Agency then suggested he turn the script into a novel, and the result was Love Story (1970). A New York Times No. 1 bestseller, the book became the top selling work of fiction for 1970 in the United States, and was translated into 33 languages worldwide. The motion picture of the same name was the number one box office attraction of 1970. The novel proved problematic for Segal. He acknowledged that its success unleashed "egotism bordering on megalomania" and he was denied tenure at Yale. Moreover, Love Story "was ignominiously bounced from the nomination slate of the National Book Awards after the fiction jury threatened to resign." Segal later said that the book "totally ruined me." He would go on to write more novels and screenplays, including the 1977 sequel to Love Story, titled Oliver's Story. Segal published scholarly works on Greek and Latin literature and taught Greek and Latin literature at Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities. He was a Supernumerary Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College at Oxford University. He served as a visiting professor at Princeton, the University of Munich and Dartmouth College. His novel The Class (1985), a saga based on the Harvard Class of 1958, was a bestseller, and won literary honors in France and Italy. Doctors (1988) was another New York Times bestseller. In 2001, he published a book on the history of theatre called The Death of Comedy. ... Source: Article "Erich Segal" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 16, 1937
- January 17, 2010 (aged 72)
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
- Writer
- 10 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
What are Erich Segal's films like?
Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 8
Light 1 · Serious 5 · Dark 3
A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1
Gentle 1 · Charged 8 · Intense 0
Steady 3 · Shifting 6 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 1
Slow burn 7 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 5
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Erich Segal's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Erich Segal's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
15 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page; 6 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Masoom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Only Love(1998)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Man, Woman and Child(1983)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Masoom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
Olangal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
A Change of Seasons(1980)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Oliver's Story(1978)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all filmsThe Ancient Games (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Jennifer on My Mind(1971)
Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films
Aşk Hikayesi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)
Without Apparent Motive(1971)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Love Story(1970)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
R.P.M.(1970)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
The Games(1970)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Yellow Submarine(1968)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 15 titles from 1968 to 2014.
Biggest box office
Love Story (1970)
Highest rated
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Most popular right now
Love Story (1970)
Film career
- 1971Screen debut· Without Apparent Motive
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Erich Segal's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 50th percentile, the median of all 10; across their 9 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 46th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 10 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the dialogue 46/100 and the plot and story 39/100 in their films, across 9 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Erich Segal's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Erich Segal work with?
People who share at least 2 of Erich Segal's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ryan O'Neal shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Noel BlackShared titles: A Change of Seasons (1980), Jennifer on My Mind (1971)See all 2 shared titles with Noel Black
Actors
- Ryan O'NealShared titles: Oliver's Story (1978), Love Story (1970), The Games (1970)See all 3 shared titles with Ryan O'Neal
- Michael BrandonShared titles: A Change of Seasons (1980), Jennifer on My Mind (1971)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Brandon
- Ray MillandShared titles: Oliver's Story (1978), Love Story (1970)See all 2 shared titles with Ray Milland
Composers
- Francis LaiShared titles: Love Story (1970), The Games (1970)See all 2 shared titles with Francis Lai
