James L. Brooks

Infobox Actor
name = James L. Brooks


birthdate = birth date and age|1940|5|9
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York, USA
spouse = Holly Beth Holmberg (1978-1999) [cite web|url=http://snpp.com/news/021699.html#brooks|title= Brooks Files for Divorce]
nowrap|Marianne Catherine Morrissey (m. 1964)
website = http://www.graciefilms.com/
academyawards = Best Director
1983 "Terms of Endearment"
Best Picture
1983 "Terms of Endearment"
Best Adapted Screenplay
1983 "Terms of Endearment"
emmyawards = Outstanding Comedy Series
1975, 1976, 1977 "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
1979, 1980, 1981 "Taxi"
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
1971, 1977 "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program
1989 "The Tracey Ullman Show"
Writing in a Variety or Music Program
1990 "The Tracey Ullman Show"
Outstanding Animated Program
1990, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006 "The Simpsons"
goldenglobeawards = Best Screenplay
1984 "Terms of Endearment"
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
1998 "As Good as it Gets"

James L. Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American producer, screenwriter and director. He is known for producing television programs such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "The Simpsons" (in which he created miscellaneous characters, including the Bouvier family), "Rhoda" and "Taxi". His best-known film is "Terms of Endearment", for which he received three Academy Awards in 1984. For his various television shows he has been awarded nineteen Primetime Emmys. He has also won two Golden Globe Awards.

Biography

Personal life

Brooks was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Dorothy Helen (née Sheinheit) and Edward M. Brooks. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/8/James-L-Brooks.html James L. Brooks Biography (1940-) ] ] He was raised in North Bergen, New Jersey in a Jewish family. [Diamond, Jamie. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E6DF1E30F933A05752C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 "FILM; Bringing You a Musical . . . With No Music"] , "The New York Times", January 30, 1994. Accessed November 28, 2007.] Brooks has donated over $175,000 to Democratic Party candidates. [ [http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/James_L_Brooks.php NEWSMEAT ▷ James L Brooks's Federal Campaign Contribution Report ] ]

Career

Brooks began his television career as a writer for CBS News from 1964 to 1966. After working for the ABC television series "Room 222" as executive story editor, Brooks was hired along with writing partner Allan Burns by television executive Grant Tinker to create a show that would later become "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" became a critical and commercial success and spawned other television shows created by Brooks and Burns such as "Rhoda", "Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers", "Taxi", "The Associates", and "Lou Grant". Brooks often sat in the studio audience of shows that he produced in the 1970s. Viewers can usually tell whether Brooks was in the audience by his distinctive loud guffaw. He would also make occasional cameo appearances.Fact|date=January 2008

In 1978, Brooks began work on feature motion films. His first project was being writer and co-producer on the film "Starting Over" and later wrote, produced and directed "Terms of Endearment" in 1983. Brooks later started his own film and television production company, Gracie Films, in 1984. Gracie Films would produce the television series "The Tracey Ullman Show" and its spin-off, "The Simpsons" as well as the animated series "The Critic". Gracie Films' notable film productions were "Jerry Maguire", "As Good as It Gets", "Big", "Bottle Rocket" and "Broadcast News".

Brooks had a cameo in "The Simpsons" episode "A Star Is Born-Again". He also played a semi-fictional version of himself in friend Albert Brooks' comedy "Modern Romance" as an opinionated film director. The Halloween episodes of "The Simpsons" often bill him as "James Hell Brooks" or (in some recent episodes) "Chains Hell Brooks" in the opening and closing credits.

Brooks mentored Cameron Crowe and was the executive producer of Crowe's directorial debut "Say Anything...". Crowe recalled later in an interview of the film's anniversary that he approached Brooks and told him about these ideas he had. Upon hearing this, Brooks encouraged Crowe to keep writing.Fact|date=January 2008 Brooks also mentored Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson after they brought "Bottle Rocket" to his attention. Owen believes they wouldn't have gotten the film made if it wasn't for Brooks' help.Fact|date=January 2008 In 2007, Brooks appeared -- along with star Hollywood screenwriters Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, and others -- in "Dreams on Spec", a documentary about filmmaking. Brooks is one of the few people thanked during the end credits for the film "".

Filmography

* "My Three Sons" (1960)
* "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960)
* "My Mother The Car" (1965) (writer)
* "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970) (producer)
* "Rhoda" (1974) (producer)
* "Thursday's Game" (1974) (Writer-Producer)
* "Taxi" (1978) (producer)
* "Terms of Endearment" (1983) (director) (writer) (producer)
* "The Tracey Ullman Show" (1987) (producer)
* "Broadcast News" (1987) (director) (writer) (producer)
* "Big" (1988) (producer)
* "Say Anything..." (1989) (producer)
* "The Simpsons" (1989-present) (executive producer)
* "I'll Do Anything" (1994) (director) (writer) (producer)
* "The Critic" (1994) (executive producer)
* "Bottle Rocket" (1996) (producer)
* "Jerry Maguire" (1996) (producer)
* "As Good as It Gets" (1997) (director) (writer) (producer)
* "Spanglish" (2004) (director) (writer) (producer)
* "The Simpsons Movie" (2007) (producer) (screenplay)

Further reading

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References

External links

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* [http://www.graciefilms.com/ Gracie Films Website]

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