L. M. Kit Carson
{{short description|American actor and screenwriter}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| birth_name = Lewis Minor Carson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|8|12|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Irving, Texas, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|10|20|1941|8|12|mf=yes}}
| death_place= Dallas, Texas, U.S.
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Karen Black|1975|1983}}
- {{marriage|Cynthia Hargrave|1990}}
}}
| children = Hunter Carson
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Actor
- screenwriter
- director
- producer}}
| years_active = 1967–2014
}}
Lewis Minor Carson (August 12, 1941 – October 20, 2014) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer.{{cite web |title=Kit Carson's Africa Diary |url=http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2011/november/kit-carsons-africa-diary?single=1 |publisher=D Magazine |first=L. M. Kit |last=Carson | date=26 October 2011 |accessdate=November 1, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Q&A with director L.M. Kit Carson |url=http://blog.pennlive.com/life/2011/05/qa_with_director_lm_kit_carson.html |publisher=Penn Live |first=Lynn |last=Ondrusek |date=May 27, 2011 |accessdate=November 1, 2012}}
Career
Carson first gained the notice of the film world when he starred in Jim McBride's mockumentary David Holzman's Diary in 1967 as the title character, a man so obsessed with filmmaking that he allows his obsession to take over his life and ruin his relationships. The two teamed up again in the early 1980s, sharing screenplay credits for the 1983 remake of Breathless; this starred Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky. Kit Carson's break-out accomplishment was co-writing, with Sam Shepard, the screenplay for the 1984 film Paris, Texas, which featured his son Hunter Carson in his film debut.{{cite web |title=Four Decades After L.M. Kit Carson Birthed Dallas's Modern Film Scene, His Diary Returns |url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/06/four_decades_after_lm_kit_cars.php |publisher=Dallas Observer |first=Robert |last=Wilonsky |date=June 14, 2011 |accessdate=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221072530/http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/06/four_decades_after_lm_kit_cars.php |url-status=dead }} Kit Carson also penned the screenplay for the 1986 horror satire The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.{{cite web |title=Interview: L.M. Kit Carson |url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/lm-kit-carson,60629 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912072849/http://www.avclub.com/articles/lm-kit-carson,60629/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2011 |publisher=The A.V. Club |first=Sam |last=Adams |date=August 19, 2011 |accessdate=November 1, 2012}}
Personal life and death
Carson had a son, actor Hunter Carson, with his former wife Karen Black, to whom he was married from 1975 until 1983. L. M. Kit Carson died in his sleep of pneumonia on October 20, 2014, in his native Dallas, Texas, aged 73.{{cite web |url=http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/filmmaker-actor-and-usa-film-festival-founder-l-m-kit-carson-one-of-the-greats-is-dead-at-73.html |title=Filmmaker, actor and USA Film Festival founder L.M. Kit Carson, 'one of the greats', is dead at 73 |work=The Dallas Morning News |first=Robert |last=Wilonsky |date=October 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023062340/http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/filmmaker-actor-and-usa-film-festival-founder-l-m-kit-carson-one-of-the-greats-is-dead-at-73.html/ |archivedate=October 23, 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/l-m-kit-carson-co-writer-of-paris-texas-dies-at-73-1201335582 |title=L.M. Kit Carson, Co-Writer of 'Paris, Texas,' Dies at 73 |work=Variety |first=Pat |last=Saperstein |date=October 21, 2014}}
Filmography
=Films=
- David Holzman's Diary (1967) - actor
- The American Dreamer (with Lawrence Schiller) (1971){{citation |title=The American Dreamer |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177516/ |access-date=2018-08-30}} - director
- Breathless (1983) - writer
- Paris, Texas (1984) - writer
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) - writer
- Running on Empty (1988) - actor
- Hurricane Streets (1997) - actor
- Bullfighter (2000) - writer, producer
- CQ (2001) - actor
- Perfume (2001) - writer, producer
=Television=
- Miami Vice - Season 5 Episode 13, "The Cell Within" - actor
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|141281|L.M. Kit Carson}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, L.M. Kit}}
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American male television actors
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Texas
Category:Film producers from Texas
Category:Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni
Category:Male actors from Dallas