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David Zucker

{{Short description|American film director}}

{{Other people}}

{{Distinguish|David Zuckerman (disambiguation){{!}}David Zuckerman}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{Infobox person

| name = David Zucker

| image = David_Zucker_at_Improv_Boston.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Zucker in 2016

| birth_name = David Samuel Zucker

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|10|16}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

| occupation = Film director, film producer, screenwriter

| years_active = 1976–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Danielle Ardolino|1997|2019|reason=divorced}}

| children = 2

| website =

| family = Jerry Zucker (brother)

}}

David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized for collaborating with Jim Abrahams and his brother Jerry as part of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, with whom he wrote and directed the 1980 film Airplane! and created The Naked Gun franchise. As a solo filmmaker, Zucker has also directed Scary Movie 3 (2003) and Scary Movie 4 (2006).

Career

Zucker's movies include The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977, Ruthless People in 1986, The Naked Gun in 1988, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991, BASEketball in 1998, Scary Movie 3 in 2003, and its sequel Scary Movie 4 in 2006. Of 18 works with which he is associated, Phone Booth, which he produced in 2002 is the only non-comedic film.

He co-directed several films including Airplane! in 1980 and Top Secret! in 1984; along with his brother, Jerry, and Jim Abrahams, the trio make up the ZAZ team of directors. He has worked with Pat Proft (with whom he first teamed up on the Naked Gun show Police Squad!) and Craig Mazin (writer of three of the five Scary Movies). In 1987, both David and Jerry Zucker through Zucker Brothers Productions signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures for a two-year non-exclusive production agreement and development deal with the studio, and the brothers had anticipated on making four comedies for Paramount Pictures during the life of the pact. The first film was a feature film version of the early 1980s television show Police Squad!, which was originally cancelled after six episodes on the air.{{Cite news |date=1987-10-07 |title=Zucker Bros. Sign A 2-Year Par Pact |pages=4, 119 |work=Variety}}

ZAZ and Proft helped develop the parody genre of films, in which jokes are spit out with rapid-fire, using puns, physical humor, wit, and double entendres. Some of the veteran actors of ZAZ's vision of parody include Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Charlie Sheen, Julie Hagerty, and Anna Faris (Faris starred in four of the Scary Movie series).

Looking back on his career in 2009, Leslie Nielsen said the best film he appeared in was The Naked Gun, and that David was his favorite director to work with. Nielsen said of him, "He came to me one time and said, 'Leslie, I'll never make you do anything that is not funny.' ... he kept his word."{{cite news |last=McEvoy |first=Colin |title=Leslie Nielsen here? Surely you jest! MOVIE STAR SITS DOWN with students to kick off DeSales festival. And don't call him Shirley. |work=The Express-Times |date=March 28, 2009 |page=A1}} Most consider his greatest work to be Airplane!, which has brought on many accolades (including preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress).

In his movies, his mother, Charlotte often made cameos (like the lady trying to put on make-up in Airplane! and Vincent Ludwig's secretary, Dominique, in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!).

David Zucker is an aficionado of Davy Crockett and collects memorabilia. He has said that his dream project is to make a biographical film, which he has spent time developing.{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=You Mean Leslie Nielsen Won't Play Davy Crockett?|last=Marx|first=Andy|date=November 17, 1991|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-17-ca-496-story.html|access-date=January 15, 2021}}{{cite news|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=April 28, 2017|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/Holley-Lighter-side-of-Davy-Crockett-a-serious-11108268.php|last=Holley|first=Joe|title=Lighter side of Davy Crockett a serious pursuit to movie producer|access-date=January 15, 2021}} During the 1990s he regularly hosted a Davy Crockett Rifle Frolic at his ranch in Ojai, California. Zucker wrote 11 updated verses to the song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett", which he claimed in 1992 that he had worked harder on those than on any of his scripts.{{cite magazine|magazine=Daily Variety|title=Dressing up, getting down at Davy Crockett Rifle Frolic|last=Marx|first=Andy|date=December 3, 1992|page=19}} He made a cameo appearance in The Naked Gun 2½ dressed as Crockett.

Zucker began to focus more on politics starting in 2004 when he began working on political ads for the Republican Party.{{cite news|last1=Ballon|first1=Marc|title=Comedy director David Zucker goes to GOP? You can't be serious!|url=http://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/community_briefs/13783/|access-date=1 September 2017|publisher=Jewish Journal|date=October 5, 2006}} In 2008, he made the political parody movie An American Carol.{{cite magazine|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/12/20/top-10-worst-christmas-movies/slide/an-american-carol-2008/|title=Top 10 Worst Christmas Movies|first=Richard|last=Corliss|magazine=Time |date=December 22, 2008 |via=entertainment.time.com}} In 2015, he made a video he called Side Effects attacking President Barack Obama for the Iran nuclear deal in the form of a parody prescription drug ad.{{cite web|url=http://www.mediaite.com/online/airplane-directors-attempt-to-satirize-iran-deal-is-laughably-bad/|title=Airplane! Director's Attempt to Satirize Iran Deal Is Laughably Bad|website=www.mediaite.com|date=September 15, 2015 }} In 2017, Zucker said that he was working on a script for a fourth Naked Gun film with Pat Proft. In 2018 he made a cameo appearance on the hidden camera TV series Impractical Jokers, where he was on FaceTime with cast member James Murray in a sketch trying to make the other person laugh.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2017/03/director-david-zucker-talks-airplane-comedy-getting-his-start-on-campus|work=Daily Cardinal|title=Director David Zucker talks "Airplane!", comedy, getting his start on campus|access-date=June 12, 2017|last=Skubish|first=Jake|date=March 30, 2017}}

In 2021, Zucker announced his return to filmmaking with a new spoof film titled The Star of Malta.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/naked-gun-co-creator-david-zucker-spoof-noir-movies-star-of-malta-1235046710/|title='Naked Gun' Co-Creator David Zucker to Spoof Noir Movies With 'Star of Malta' (Exclusive)|website=The Hollywood Reporter|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=November 11, 2021|access-date=November 16, 2021}}

Personal life

Zucker was born to a Jewish family{{cite book |last1=Desser |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4Aqh7u9qCQC&q=Jim+Abrahams+jew&pg=PA166 |title=American Jewish Filmmakers |last2=Friedman |first2=Lester D. |year=2004 |isbn=9780252071539 |pages=166|publisher=University of Illinois Press }} in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Charlotte Zucker and Burton C. Zucker, who was a real estate developer.{{cite web |title=David Zucker Biography (1947-) |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/71/David-Zucker.html |website=www.filmreference.com}}{{cite web |title=Charlotte A. Zucker's Obituary on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=charlotte-a-zucker&pid=93954401 |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel}} He graduated from Shorewood High School.[http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=332493 "25 years and still laughing: 'Airplane!' maintains its cruising altitude with a non-stop zany attitude"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430053901/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=332493|date=April 30, 2008}}, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 11, 2005. Accessed September 17, 2007. "The event is in honor of the volunteer service and philanthropy of Louise Abrahams Yaffe and her son Jim Abrahams, who wrote and directed "Airplane!" with fellow Shorewood High School and University of Wisconsin–Madison graduates David and Jerry Zucker." In 1997, David married Danielle Zucker, with whom he has two children, Charles and Sarah.{{cite news |last=Stein |first=Jeannine |date=August 27, 1997 |title=Home Weddings Add a Touch of the Heart |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-27-ls-33155-story.html}} He and Danielle were divorced in 2019, although they had been separated for ten years before that.{{cite web |date=March 26, 2019 |title=Director David Zucker's divorce petition at risk of dismissal |url=http://www.hollywood.com/general/director-david-zuckers-divorce-petition-at-risk-of-dismissal-60746981/ |website=hollywood.com}} His younger brother, Jerry, is his filmmaking partner. The Zucker brothers have a sister, Susan Breslau, who along with their parents has had numerous appearances in their films. When asked in a September 2014 interview by the BBC if he believes in God, David replied:

{{blockquote|text=Oh yeah, I believe in God. I think there's much more evidence that there is a God than that there isn't. I don't believe that Mother Teresa and Hitler go to the same place. I believe in justice, maybe not in this life, but there has to be justice. And if there isn't a God, I think it would be very depressing. I'd prefer to believe there is.{{cite web|last1=Hennigan|first1=Adam|title=Calling the Shots: No.11: David Zucker|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/callingtheshots/david_zucker.shtml|publisher=BBC|access-date=23 March 2017}}}}

= Environmentalism =

David Zucker has been an active supporter of TreePeople since 1988 and is now the longest continuously serving board member (1990) in the organization's history.{{cite web|url=https://www.treepeople.org/about/board-of-directors|title=Board of Directors|website=treepeople.org|access-date=9 January 2020|archive-date=April 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409064917/https://www.treepeople.org/about/board-of-directors|url-status=dead}}

He has been an advocate of solar-powered and electric cars since the '90s. "I can't complain about the smog in Los Angeles if I'm contributing to it," Zucker said to the Sun Sentinel in 1990.{{cite news|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-10-07-9002180125-story.html|title=INTEREST IN ELECTRIC CARS SURGES SPIRALING GAS PRICES, AIR POLLUTION SPARK PRODUCTION, PROTOTYPES|website=Sun-Sentinel|date=7 October 1990|access-date=9 January 2020}}

Recurring cast members

Among all of his directed and/or produced parody films, Zucker had frequently cast the late Leslie Nielsen.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%; font-size:85%;"
style="vertical-align:bottom;"

! Actor

! Airplane!

! Ruthless People

! Naked Gun: From
the Files of
Police Squad!

! The Naked Gun
2½: The
Smell of Fear

! BASEketball

! My Boss'
Daughter

! Scary Movie 3

! Scary Movie 4

! An American
Carol

! Scary Movie 5

Anthony Anderson

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Carmen Electra

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Anna Faris

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Regina Hall

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Kevin Hart

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

George Kennedy

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

Michael Madsen

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

Robert Stack

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

Jenny McCarthy

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

Edward Moss

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Leslie Nielsen

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

Priscilla Presley

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

Bill Pullman

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

|

Simon Rex

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

Molly Shannon

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

Charlie Sheen

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

| {{X mark}}

O. J. Simpson

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

Ed Williams

|

|

| {{X mark}}

| {{X mark}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

Filmography

= Films =

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Title

! colspan="3" |Functioned as

! rowspan="2" |Notes

width=65|Director

!width=65|Writer

!width=65|Producer

1977

|The Kentucky Fried Movie

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|rowspan=4|with Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker

1980

|Airplane!

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

1984

|Top Secret!

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

1986

|Ruthless People

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1988

|The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|

1991

|The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|

1992

|Brain Donors

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|

1993

|For Goodness Sake

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|Short film

1994

|Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

1995

|A Walk in the Clouds

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|

rowspan=2|1996

|High School High

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

For Goodness Sake II

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|Short film

1998

|BASEketball

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|Also executive music producer

2002

|Phone Booth

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|

rowspan="2" |2003

|My Boss's Daughter

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|Also wrote early draft screenplay

Scary Movie 3

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|

2006

|Scary Movie 4

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|

rowspan=3|2008

|An American Carol

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

The Onion Movie

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|

Superhero Movie

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|

2013

|Scary Movie 5

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|Also directed additional scenes

TBA

|The Star of Malta{{Cite web|date=2021-11-12|title='Naked Gun' Creator David Zucker to Spoof Noir Movies Next With 'The Star of Malta'|url=https://collider.com/david-zucker-noir-movie-spoof-the-star-of-malta/|access-date=2021-11-24|website=Collider|language=en-US}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

==Acting roles==

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Note

1977

|The Kentucky Fried Movie

|Man / Technician #2 / Grunwald

|

1980

|Airplane!

|Ground Crewman #2

|

1984

|Top Secret!

|German Soldier in Prop Room

|

1991

|The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

|Davy Crockett

|

1994

|Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

|Teleprompter Guy

|

1995

|Your Studio and You

|Himself

|Short film

1998

|BASEketball

|Man with Shooting Hot Dog

|

2006

|Scary Movie 4

|Zoltar

|Voice role

2013

|Scary Movie 5

|Packer Fan

|

class="wikitable"

|+Other credits

!Year

!Title

!Role

!Notes

2016

|O.J.: Made in America

|Himself

|Documentary

2019

|MOSSAD!

|Creative consultant

|

= Television =

== TV series ==

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Title

! colspan="3" |Functioned as

! rowspan="2" |Notes

width="65" | Creator

! width="65" |Producer

! width="65" |Writer

1976

|Big John, Little John

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes}}

|writer of episode "Abracadabra" with Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker

1982

|Police Squad!

|{{yes}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|{{yes}}

|director and writer of episode "A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)" with Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker

== Other work ==

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Title

! colspan="3" |Functioned as

! rowspan="2" |Notes

width="65" | Director

! width="65" | Writer

! width="65" |Producer

1987

|Our Planet Tonight

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|TV movie

rowspan="2" |2000

|H.U.D.

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|Unaired TV series pilot

Absolutely True

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{partial|Executive}}

|

2019

|Late Night Berlin

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

|{{yes|Creative}}

|Episode "Folge 42"

==Acting roles==

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Note

1972

| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

|rowspan=2| Performer

|rowspan=2| Part as Kentucky Fried Theater in one episode

1974

|The Midnight Special

2018

|Impractical Jokers

|rowspan=2| Himself

|Episode: "Out of Left Field"

2020

|Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party

|Episode: "The Soup's On Episode"

Songwriter

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

{{Portal|Film|United States|Biography}}

  • {{IMDb name|0001878|David Zucker}}
  • [http://www.the-numbers.com/people/directors/DZUCK.php David Zucker] at Discogs
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20061103212514/http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=318 GreenCine interview]
  • [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=16577 Jewish Journal interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713041115/http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=16577 |date=July 13, 2012 }}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828025111/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/385rlkfy.asp?pg=1 Weekly Standard interview]

{{Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker}}

{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zucker, David}}

Category:1947 births

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