Mario Puzo was an American novelist, screenwriter, and short story writer. He is best known for his novel The Godfather, which was later adapted into a highly successful film series of the same name. Puzo also wrote the screenplay for the first two films in the series. He wrote several other novels, including The Sicilian, Fools Die, and The Fourth K. Puzo was awarded the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Godfather Part II in 1974.