Stephen Chbosky is a novelist, screenwriter, and director who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 25, 1970. As a teenager, Chbosky was moved by J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in The Rye. Upon graduation from Upper St. Clair High School, he met Stewart Stern, the screenwriter of Rebel Without a Cause, and the two became close friends. After writing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky revealed that the character Bill (an English teacher) was based on Stern and reflected the positive influence of Stern on Chbosky's development as a writer.
Chbosky left Pittsburgh to attend the University of Southern California's Film Writing Program. There he began work on his first...
