Robert De Niro
Leonard Lowe
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Dec 14, 2023 · Awakenings is a fictionalized adaptation of Dr. Oliver Sacks' book about his research on catatonic patients with encephalitis lethargica. The movie features Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who uses L-DOPA to awaken some patients, but faces ethical and medical challenges.
- Adrienne Tyler
It tells the story of neurologist Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams), based on Sacks, who discovers the beneficial effects of the drug L-DOPA in 1969. He administers it to catatonic patients who survived the 1919–1930 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica .
- $29 million
- Randy Newman
- December 20, 1990 (United States)
Apr 25, 2023 · Yes, ‘Awakenings’ is based on a true story. It is an adaptation of the late Oliver Sacks’ eponymous non-fiction book that was adapted into a screenplay by Steven Zaillian. Oliver was a British Neurologist, and the book is more like his memoir of all his experiences while treating patients in a catatonic state for decades.
Jan 25, 2024 · Is the movie Awakenings based on a true story? Yes, “Awakenings” is indeed based on a true story. It draws inspiration from the real-life experiences of neurologist Oliver Sacks, as documented in his 1973 memoir. In this groundbreaking account, Sacks details his use of L-DOPA to awaken patients suffering from post-encephalitic syndrome.
His book Awakenings, upon which the 1990 feature film of the same name is based, describes his experiences using the new drug levodopa on post-encephalitic patients at the former Beth Abraham Hospital, currently Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Allerton Ave, in The Northeast Bronx, NY.
- Non-fiction books about his psychiatric and neurological patients
- 30 August 2015 (aged 82), New York City, U.S.
- Oliver Wolf Sacks, 9 July 1933, London, England
Jan 11, 1991 · Awakenings: Directed by Penny Marshall. With Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson. The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
