A graduate of Yale Drama School, Tally won numerous awards and grants for playwriting, including the Kazan Award, the Field Prize and a CBS Foundation Fellowship. His most well-known and most produced play is Terra Nova (1977). Other plays include Hooters, Word of Mouth and Coming Attractions. He has made a career of adapting novels to the screen, having received acclaim for his adaptation of Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs (1991) and given the job of writting its 2002 pre-quel (remake) Red Dragon. Other noatable screen credits include WHITE PALACE (1990), THE JUROR and BEFORE AND AFTER (both 1996), ALL THE PRETTY HORSES (2000) and ALEXANDER THE GREAT (2004). He was an associate producer of MISSION TO MARS (2000), and he acted as a story/creative consultant for SHREK 2 (2004), MADAGASCAR (2004) and SHREK THE THIRD (2007).  Best Achievement in Writing - Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published 1991: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 1 nomination, 1 Award