Legendary writer and director Jim Abrahams has died aged 80.
Jim Abrahams who wrote and directed iconic spoof films Airplane! (1980) and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) died from natural causes on Tuesday at his home in Santa Monica, his son Joseph confirmed to THR.
Jim Abrahams is survived by wife Nancy and their three children.
He is best known for his collaborations with brothers Jerry Zucker and David Zucker on comedy films Airplane! – which landed him a BAFTA Award nod for Best Screenplay and The Naked Gun series. The trio were known as ZAZ.
Airplane! starring Leslie Nielsen – which features classic one liners such as ‘I am serious….and don’t call me Shirley’ – was a huge hit, grossing $83.5million from a budget of $3.5million and at the time, became the third biggest grossing comedy of all time.
The slapstick comedy is regularly cited as one of the funniest films of all-time and won a 1981 Writer’s Guild of America Award.
Abrahams also directed 1988 film Big Business, starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, 1990’s Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael with Winona Ryder and 1991’s Hot Shots! with Charlie Sheen and Cary Elwes.
He directed the sequel Hot Shots! Part Deux in 1993.
His last writing credit was on 2006 spoof, Scary Movie 4.
Jim Abrahams also appeared on-screen in small roles in The Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane!, Top Secret! and Coming to America.
Abrahams was born in Shorewood, Wisconsin, where he forged a childhood friendship with the Zucker brothers.
Abrahams studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In 1971 the trio set up the Kentucky Fried Theater to showcase their sketch comedies, which was material for their first film, The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977).
After failing to make an impression on Hollywood executives, they produced the film independently, secured $650,000 worth of investors and released the film – which made $7.1 million in domestic rentals.
ZAZ were inspired by comedian Mel Brooks and Airplane! broke barriers when it came to comedy with its clever jokes and deadpan delivery by previously ‘serious’ actors such as Nielsen.
Abrahams said: ‘In one day, we took a look at what was on our video machine, and there was this movie called Zero Hour! which is a 1957 melodrama.
‘So you got this script, then, full of jokes, but you get actors who aren’t known for telling jokes, who aren’t comedians.’
The trio created American spoof crime comedy television series Police Squad! in 1982 – which starred Nielsen as Frank Drebin.
Although canceled after just six episodes, it sparked The Naked Gun film series which comprised three films and ran from 1988 – 1994.
The first instalment in the franchise was a critical and commercial triumph and grossed more than $150million against a $12million budget.
He also had small acting credits in “The Kentucky Fried Movie,” “Airplane!,” “Top Secret!” and “Coming to America.