Jim Abrahams, director of 'The Naked Gun,' 'Airplane!' and 'Hot Shots,' dies at the age of 80
Together with the Zucker brothers, he elevated parody to an art form and marked a new era in American comedy.
Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams (center) and David Zucker in 1984.
Director and screenwriter Jim Abrahams, author of comedies such as Airplane, The naked gun and Hot Shots, died of natural causes last Tuesday. His son Joseph was in charge of confirming the news, noting that Abrahams died at his home in Santa Monica. He was 80 years old.
Along with his childhood friends, brothers Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams marked an era of American comedy with his wacky films, turning parody - of everything and everyone - into art. Their first steps in this genre were as collaborators in Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), directed by John Landis, and in which they wrote the screenplay.
Airplane! a $170 million-plus hit in 1980
The trio's first major directing success was not long in coming. In 1980, Airplane! took the worldwide box office by storm, raking in more than $170 million for a film that cost just shy of $3.5 million to produce.
Despite the result, the three friends refused to participate in the sequel and, became involved in the creation of Police Squad for television (1982). Starring Leslie Nielsen in the title role, it poked fun at the police methods of the time. The series was critically acclaimed, but had low ratings and was canceled with only six episodes aired.
However, the series was the seed for the successful The Naked Gun saga, in 1988, in which the three collaborated again after several separate projects.
Subsequently, the trio collaborated on Top Secret! (1984), starring a young Val Kilmer, and Ruthless People (1986), with Bette Midler and Danny DeVito.
Hot Shots, Abrahams' solo hit
Shortly after, Abrahams would sign solo the successful Hot Shots, a parody of Top Gun and its sequel, in which he made fun of Rambo and action movies, both starring Charlie Sheen. Abrahams has only directed one film since then, the 1998 crime spoof Mafia! aka, Jane Austen's Mafia!, and later acted as co-writer on 2006's Scary Movie 4.
One of Abrahams' sons, Charlie, suffered from a severe form of epilepsy, which led him and his wife to co-found the Charlie Foundation to help cure pediatric epilepsy.
LATEST
