Robert Harling is an American writer, producer, and film director. After the death of his younger sister, Susan, due to diabetes, he wrote a short story and adapted it into a play, Steel Magnolias. It has been translated in seventeen languages, including Japanese, Chinese, French, Swedish, Spanish, and Italian. He went on to adapt the screenplay for the film version of the play that was starred Sally Field and Julia Roberts.

He went on to write more screenplays, including GCB, Laws of Attraction, The First Wives Club, The Evening Star, Coiffure pour dames, and Soapdish.