Mario Gianluigi Puzo  (October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather (1969). He adapted the novel into a film trilogy with director Francis Ford Coppola, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1972 and 1974. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the first two Christopher Reeves Superman films (1978 and 1980).