william dale wittliff (january 21, 1940 – june 9, 2019), sometimes credited as bill wittliff, was an american screenwriter, author and photographer. he was born in taft, texas. he wrote many screenplays, including for the movies "raggedy man" (1981), "barbarosa" (1982), "legends of the fall" (1994), "the perfect storm" (2000), and the miniseries "lonesome dove".