Ernest Thompson is an American writer, actor, and director. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for On Golden Pond, an adaptation of his own play of the same name.

The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, musicals, short stories, TV series, and even other films and film characters. All sequels are also considered adaptations by this standard.