'Dance With Wolves' screenwriter Michael Blake dies at 69

Writer Michael Blake, who won an Oscar for penning the script of 1990 American film "Dances With Wolves", has died after battling a long illness. He was 69.
Blake died peacefully in Tucson, Arizona, his manager and producing partner Daniel Ostroff has confirmed, reported Deadline.
Blake wrote the novel "Dances With Wolves" in 1988, before it was turned into an Oscar-winning feature. The book sold more than 3.5 million copies and was translated into 15 different languages.
The film came out in 1990, directed by and starring Kevin Costner, and was both a commercial and critical smash. Along with best screenplay, it won six other Oscars, including best picture. The script also won the prize at the WGA Awards and the Golden Globes.

Costner later commissioned Blake to write two other screenplays - "The Mick" and "The One". Before "Dances With Wolves", the two worked together on "Stacy's Knights" in 1983.
Blake most recently wrote a screenplay based on German novel "Winnetou" for Constantin Films in 2011.