movement network 
An actor ( or actress for females ; see terminology ) is a person who portrays a character in a performance . The actor performs " in the flesh " in the traditional medium of the theatre , or in modern mediums such as film , radio , and television . The analogous Greek term is , literally " one who answers ". The actor ' s interpretation of their role pertains to the role played , whether based on a real person or fictional character . Interpretation occurs even when the actor is " playing themselves ", as in some forms of experimental ___MASK15___ , or , more commonly ; to act , is to create , a character in performance . Sidney Aaron " Paddy " Chayefsky ( January 29 , 1923  August 1 , 1981 ) was an American playwright , screenwriter and novelist . He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay ( the other three - time winners , Francis Ford Coppola , Charles Brackett , Woody Allen and Billy Wilder , have all shared their awards with co - writers ). Francis Ford Coppola ( born April 7 , 1939 ) is a semi - retired American film director , producer , and screenwriter . He is considered to have been a central figure of the ___MASK94___ wave of filmmaking . Robert Wesley Addy ( August 4 , 1913  December 31 , 1996 ) was an American actor . Network is a 1976 American satirical film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet , about a fictional television network , UBS , and its struggle with poor ratings . The film stars Faye Dunaway , William Holden , Peter Finch , and Robert Duvall and features Wesley Addy , Ned Beatty , and Beatrice Straight . The film won four Academy Awards , in the categories of Best Actor ( Finch ) , Best Actress ( Dunaway ) , Best Supporting Actress ( Straight ) , and Best Original Screenplay ( Chayefsky ) . In 2000 , the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' . In 2002 , it was inducted into the Producers Guild of America Hall of Fame as a film that has `` set an enduring standard for U . S . American entertainment '' . In 2006 , the two Writers Guilds of America voted Chayefsky ' s script one of the 10 greatest screenplays in the history of cinema . In 2007 , the film was 64th among the 100 greatest American films as chosen by the American Film Institute , a ranking slightly higher than the one AFI had given it ten years earlier .