William Wisher Jr., the screenwriter who helped bring Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic T-800 to the big screen in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, has passed away at the age of 71.

The news was broken by journalist David Poland, a friend of Wisher’s, who posted on social media:

“Sad to announce the passing of screenwriter William Wisher at the age of 71. His credits include T2, The Terminator, Judge Dredd, and Live Free or Die Hard. He loved his wife Debbi… and cigarettes, scotch, and guns. An old friend and a good guy. RIP.”

Wisher’s first credit came on The Terminator, where he received an “additional dialogue” credit before being promoted to full co-writer alongside James Cameron on Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He even made memorable cameos in both films, playing a police officer in the original and the man who photographs the T-800 after it crashes through a store window in the sequel. Wisher also wrote the novelizations for both movies. I actually had both on my bookshelf as a kid and read the Terminator 2 novel months before the film was released—a fairly common practice at the time.

Wisher enjoyed a prolific career beyond the Terminator franchise, writing Sylvester Stallone’s Judge Dredd and the underrated John McTiernan epic The 13th Warrior, based on Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead. He also co-wrote Exorcist: The Beginning, which became infamous after Paul Schrader’s original version was shelved. When Schrader’s cut was eventually released as Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist, Wisher earned the unusual distinction of receiving writing credit on two different versions of the same film.

He was also one of Hollywood’s go-to script doctors, contributing uncredited work to Die Hard with a Vengeance, Broken Arrow, Eraser, and Mercury Rising, among many others. His final credited screenplay was the Pierce Brosnan thriller I.T.

Paying tribute on X, The Terminator producer Gale Anne Hurd wrote:

“Such terribly sad news… Bill was not only integral to THE TERMINATOR but he was such an all around great guy. RIP.”