Everything about James L Brooks totally explained
James L. Brooks (born
May 9,
1940) is an
American three-time
Academy Award, nineteen-time
Emmy and
Golden Globe-winning
producer,
writer, and
film director.
He is best known for producing American
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.
Biography
Brooks was born in
Brooklyn,
New York, and was raised in
North Bergen, New Jersey in a
Jewish family. 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.
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 bill him as "Chains Hell Brooks" in the opening 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. 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. 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 .
Personal life
Brooks has donated over $175,000 to
Democratic Party candidates.
(External Link
)
Noted filmography
Further Information
Get more info on 'James L Brooks'.
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