Biography: Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker

by Nicoletta Donofrio

Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker were an American comedy filmmaking trio which consisted of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker. Jim Abrahams was born on May 10th, 1944 in Shorewood, Wisconsin. His parents were Louise and Norman Abrahams. Louise was an educational researcher and Norman was a Lawyer. David Zucker was born October 16th, 1947 and Jerry was born March 11th, 1950. They were both born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two boys were raised by their mother Charlotte and Burton Zucker. Charlotte was an actress and Burton was an actor. They had a sister Susan Breslau. The trio of Jim, David and Jerry grew up together in Milwaukee. While the trio attended the University of Wisconsin- Madison, they formed a group called Kentucky Fried Theater. This lead to their sketch comedy film The Kentucky Fried movie in 1978. Their next film they did together was Airplane! Which their most successful movies. They went on to create more comedic movies together such as Top Secret!, Ruthless People, Hot Shots, The Naked Gun series and more. Unfortunately the movie that changed their comedic hits was their third film, Ruthless People, which did terrible at the box office. The Naked Gun and Hot Shots got them back on track after they backed away from directing for a bit and became hits.

The movie that really put them on the map was the movie Airplane! This movie was created in 1980 and is a 1 hour and 28 minutes long. The movie was a spoof of every airplane disaster movie that had been made. It had ridiculous sight gags, laugh until your stomach hurts dialogue and deadpan acting. This comedy style would be imitated for the next 20 years. When passengers and crew of a jet are decimates due to food poisoning, a rogue pilot with a drinking problem, who developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, must cooperate with his ex-girlfriend that is a stewardess, whom he is trying to win back, to land the plane safely. This movie became such a power film and the hit of the 1980’s that they got a number of awards that included a Writers Guild of America award and a BAFTA nomination for best screenplay.

Even though they had created all comedic hit movies together, the brothers and Jim also went on directing movies on their own. In 1990 Jerry decided to go back to directing on his own. He decided to shy away from a comedy and moved to a more dramatic genre when he directed Ghost. This movie was about a man is killed because of a mugging, or so he thought. His soul stays on earth and he realizes that his wife and he weren’t victims of a mugger and that his wife is in danger. The only problem is his wife cannot hear him so he tries to get help from a psychic in order to communicate. His next project, First Knight, was not really liked and left most fans of the Arthur legend disappointed with the film. When the new millennium started, Jerry decided to return to the comedy genre and released Rat Race with an all-star cast. Jim Abrahams went on to direct solo Big Business, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Hot Shots! Part Deux, ..First Do No Harm and Jane Austens Mafia! David Zucker went on to direct the movies Basketball, My Boss’s Daughter, Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4 and An American Carol. The brothers and Jim created very successful movies together and apart.

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"Jim Abrahams Biography and Filmography | Jim Abrahams Movies." Tribute.ca. N.p., 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.