Jim Abrahams

{{Short description|American film director and writer (1944–2024)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Jim Abrahams

| image = Jim Abrahams, 2015.jpg

| caption = Abrahams in 2015

| birthname = James Steven Abrahams

| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|5|10}}

| birth_place = Shorewood, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|11|26|1944|5|10}}

| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.

| years_active = 1976–2019

| spouse = Nancy Cocuzzo

| children = 3

}}

James Steven Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American film director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker.

Life and career

James Steven Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, to a Jewish family{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4Aqh7u9qCQC&q=Jim+Abrahams+jew&pg=PA166 |first1=David |last1=Desser |first2=Lester D. |last2=Friedman |title=American Jewish Filmmakers |year=2004 |pages=166 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252071539}} in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Ogens), an educational researcher, and Norman S. Abrahams, a lawyer.{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jim-abrahams-dead-airplane-naked-gun-hot-shots-1236071689/ |title=Jim Abrahams, 'Airplane!,' 'Naked Gun' and 'Hot Shots!' Master of Mirth, Dies at 80 |last=Kozeluk |first=Chris |date=November 26, 2024 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}{{cite news|author=Jan Uebelherr|title=Louise Abrahams Yaffe: 'Airplane' co-creator's mother set her own course: Yaffe was advocate for the aging, occasional actress|date=December 28, 2012|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=November 8, 2013|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/airplane-cocreators-mother-set-her-own-course-m686cai-185107091.html}} He attended Shorewood High School. He had a home in Eagle River, Wisconsin, where he spent summers from the time he was a child.[https://www.allwaysforward.org/feature/did-you-know-vilas-county/ Up-North Escape – All Ways Forward] Retrieved 2018-11-01.

He is best known for the spoof movies that he co-wrote and produced with brothers Jerry Zucker and David Zucker, such as Airplane! (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) and The Naked Gun series. The team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (also referred to as "ZAZ") really began when the three men grew up together in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He directed movies on his own, such as Big Business, and further honed his skills in parody with Hot Shots! and its 1993 sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux. {{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

Abrahams and his wife, Nancy (née Cocuzzo) co-founded The Charlie Foundation To Help Cure Pediatric Epilepsy.{{cite web|url=https://www.cureepilepsy.org/personal-stories/charlies-story/|title=Charlie's Story|publisher=CURE Epilepsy|accessdate=November 30, 2024|first=Jim|last=Abrams}} He was an advocate of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy.

Abrahams had three children. His daughter, Jamie Abrahams, is also a comedy writer.

=Death=

He died from leukemia at his home in Santa Monica, California, on November 26, 2024, at the age of 80.{{cite web|url=https://www.tmz.com/2024/11/26/jim-abrahams-dead-airplane-naked-gun/#:~:text=We're%20told%20Jim%20had,by%20family%20when%20he%20died.|title='Airplane!' and 'Naked Gun' Creator Jim Abrahams Dead at 80|publisher=TMZ|accessdate=November 27, 2024|date=November 26, 2024}} He had the disease for twenty years before his death and at one point was in remission until it returned.

Filmography

= Film =

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

!width=65|Director

!width=65|Writer

!width=65|Executive Producer

! Notes

1977

| The Kentucky Fried Movie

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

1980

| Airplane!

| {{Yes}}

|rowspan=3|Co-directed with David and Jerry Zucker

1984

| Top Secret!

| {{Yes}}

1986

| Ruthless People

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

rowspan=2|1988

| Big Business

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

1990

| Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

1991

| Hot Shots!

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

1993

| Hot Shots! Part Deux

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

1994

| An Introduction to the Ketogenic Diet

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

| Documentary short

1998

| Mafia!

| {{Yes}}

| {{no}}

2006

| Scary Movie 4

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

Executive producer only

Cry-Baby (1990)
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)

Acting roles

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

1977

| The Kentucky Fried Movie

| Technician #1 / Announcer

1980

| Airplane!

| Religious Zealot #6

1984

| Top Secret!

| German Soldier in Prop Room

1988

| Coming to America

| Face on Cutting Room Floor

1991

| Oscar

| Postman

2019

| Fat: A Documentary

| Self − Filmmaker & Founder, Charlie Foundation

= Television =

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

!width=65|Director

!width=65|Writer

!width=65|Creator

!width=65|Executive
Producer

! Notes

1976

| Big John, Little John

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| Episode "Abracadabra"

1997

| ...First Do No Harm

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| TV movie

1982

| Police Squad!

| {{yes}}

| Wrote and directed episode "A Substantial Gift
(The Broken Promise)" with David & Jerry Zucker

2018

| Voice of the Epilepsies

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| Documentary film

Other credits

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1972

| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

|rowspan=2|Performer

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

1974

| The Midnight Special

2019

| Late Night Berlin

| Creative producer

| Episode "Folge 42"

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0000720}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090804033153/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/78951/Jim-Abrahams/biography Biography], The New York Times (from AllMovie)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150806224546/http://www.cureepilepsy.org/aboutcure/psas/charlies_story.asp Charlie's Story]; accessed November 25, 2014.
{{Discogs artist|Jim Abrahams}}

Category:1944 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American screenwriters

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American screenwriters

Category:American comedy writers

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American male television writers

Category:American parodists