Pat Proft
{{Short description|American comedy writer, actor, and director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Pat Proft
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947|}}
| birth_place = Columbia Heights, Minnesota, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = screenwriter
film producer
| years_active = 1973 – present
| spouse = Karen Philipp
}}
Pat Proft (born 1947) is an American comedy writer, actor, and director. Born in Minnesota in 1947, Proft began his career at Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis in the mid-1960s.Royce, Graydon. "Hello, Goodbye". Minneapolist Star Tribune, July 21, 2011. He went on to perform as a one-man comedy act in the late 1960s. In 1972, Proft began working at The Comedy Store in Hollywood which led to work in television and film writing for the Smothers Brothers and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker.Allon, Cullen and Patterson, 2002. p. 434
Of the many feature films Proft has written, Wrongfully Accused is the only one he also directed. It was released in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&retailCheck=&Type=PN&CatID=DATABIN_DIRECTOR&ID=253481&AN_ID=&searchedFor=Pat_Proft_|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Pat Proft|accessdate=December 17, 2015}}
Proft continued to work with David Zucker, and in 2013 announced he was working on a parody film with Zucker involving the Jason Bourne and Mission: Impossible series.
Biography
Proft was born in 1947 in Minnesota.Allon, Cullen and Patterson, 2002. p.431 Proft attended Columbia Heights High School where his English teacher Stuart J. Anderson encouraged Proft to develop his talent.{{cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/local/west/238238911.html|work=Star Tribune|title=A screenwriter who never stops writing|accessdate=September 23, 2014|date=December 23, 2013|last=Pratt|first=Anna}} Proft would later perform at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's stage, acting in musicals even though Proft felt that he "can't sing or dance." In 1972, Proft moved to Hollywood where he began working at The Comedy Store. Jerry and David Zucker saw some of Proft's work at the Comedy Store and would later invite him to join them at Kentucky Fried Theater. Proft received a special thanks message in the credits of the film Airplane! (1980).{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=53895|work=American Film Institute|accessdate=September 23, 2014|title=Airplane!|quote=The end credit crawl carries the following statement: "Special thanks to Kim Jorgensen, Pat Proft."}}
=Television career=
In his early career, Proft wrote for several television and comedy variety shows. Proft was a regular on The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour that lasted from June to September 1973.Terrace, 2013. p.41Brooks, 2009. p.198 In 1975, Proft would also appear as a regular on Joey & Dad, a variety show featuring Joey Heatherton and her father.Brooks, 2009. p.708Terrace, 1985. p.218
Proft would work as a screenwriter on the situation comedy show When Things Were Rotten developed by Mel Brooks and screened between September and December 1975.Brooks, 2009. p.1509Crick, 2009. p.187 The series, a satire on the Robin Hood story, was well received by critics but was cancelled in 1975 due to low ratings. In 1976, Proft was writing for Van Dyke and Company, a variety show that was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1977.Hyatt, 2006. p.284
=Film career=
In 1997, the film Mr. Magoo was released, written by Proft and Tom Sherohman.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/mr-magoo-2-1200452100/|work=Variety|title=Mr. Magoo|date=December 23, 1997|accessdate=September 24, 2014|last=Leydon|first=Joe}} The film was based on the UPA cartoon series from the 1950s and 1960s about a nearsighted eccentric.
The film received poor reviews.{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_magoo/|title=Mr. Magoo|accessdate=September 24, 2014|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Flixster}} Variety stated that both Proft and Sherohman "have labored mightily to cobble together a plot capable of stretching to feature length the one-joke premise of the six-minute cartoons."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/mr-magoo-2-1200452100/|work=Variety|accessdate=September 24, 2014|title=Mr. Magoo|last=Leydon|first=Joe|date=December 23, 1997}}
In 1998, Proft's directorial debut titled Wrongfully Accused was released. The film was a parody of the thriller genre exemplified by The Fugitive (1993).{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/wrongfully-accused-1200454666/|work=Variety|title=Wrongfully Accused|accessdate=September 23, 2014|last=Klady|first=Leonard|date=August 17, 1998}} In the same year, Proft announced a parody of the Dirty Harry film series about an American police officer who heads to England to extradite a criminal without much success and a script titled Deep Titanic: Armageddon and Titanic, Too: It Missed the Iceberg which he also wanted to direct.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/voices/columns/silver-selling-landmark-home-1117479128/|work=Variety |title=Silver selling landmark home|accessdate=September 23, 2014|author=Archerd, Amy|date=August 5, 1998}} Titanic, Too: It Missed the Iceberg had actors Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley and David Hasselhoff in talks for starring with a release date originally aimed for early 1999.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1998/05/21/mock-boat/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=September 23, 2014|date=May 21, 1998|author=Wolk, Josh|title=Titanic}} CNN's film analyst Martin Grove stated the film was not likely to be made as two recent parody films Wrongfully Accused and Plump Fiction were not well received.
In 2013, Proft was working on a script with David Zucker titled Counter Intelligence. Proft described the film as a "Naked Gun take on the Mission Impossible and Bourne film series". Zucker would discuss in 2017 that he was working on a script for a fourth Naked Gun film with Proft.{{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|accessdate=June 12, 2017|last=Skubish|first=Jake|date=March 30, 2017}} No project with Zucker has been made since Scary Movie V. In 2021, Proft was again working on a script for David Zucker titled The Star of Malta, a parody of film noir and heist films.{{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)|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=November 11, 2021|accessdate=December 7, 2021|work=Hollywood Reporter}}
Personal life
Proft is married to actress and singer Karen Philipp.
Filmography
=Feature credits=
=Acting roles=
=Television credits=
- The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour (1973)
- The Smothers Brothers Show (1975)
- The Jim Stafford Show (1975)
- When Things Were Rotten (1975)
- Welcome Back, Kotter (1975)
- Van Dyke and Company (1976)
- 3 Girls 3 (1977)
- The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour (1977)
- Mary (1978)
- Ringo (1978)
- Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
- Detective School (1979)
- Twilight Theater (1982)
- Police Squad! (1982)
- High School U.S.A. (1984)
- Super Dave's Spike-Tacular (2009)
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last=Terrace|first=Vincent|date=February 26, 2013|title=Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937-2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxTx1xK-q14C|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9781476602493}}
- {{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle F.|date=2009|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780307483201}}
- {{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|date=1985|title=Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC|publisher=VNR AG|isbn=0918432618}}
- {{cite book|last1=Crick|first1=Robert Alan|date=2002|title=The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbtuDkazJfQC|publisher=McFarland|isbn=078644326X}}
- {{cite book|last1=Wesley|first1=Hyatt|date=2006|title=Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows, 1948-2004|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786423293}}
- {{cite book|editor1=Yoram Allon|editor2=Del Cullen|editor3=Hannah Patterson|date=2002|title=Contemporary North American Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide|publisher=Wallflower Press|isbn=1903364523|accessdate=September 23, 2014|url=https://archive.org/details/contemporarynort00yora|url-access=registration}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0698493}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proft, Pat}}
Category:American comedy writers
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American male television actors
Category:American television writers
Category:American comedy film directors
Category:Male actors from Minnesota
Category:American male television writers
Category:Screenwriters from Minnesota