Adam Rifkin (born December 31, 1966), sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American filmmaker, and actor. His career ranges from broad family comedies to dark and gritty urban dramas. He is best known for writing family-friendly comedies like ''

Mouse Hunt ''Mouse Hunt'' is a 1997 American slapstick black comedy film written by Adam Rifkin and directed by Gore Verbinski in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken. The film follow ...

'' and 2007's ''

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

''. Most recently, Rifkin directed ''

The Last Movie Star ''The Last Movie Star'' is a 2017 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Rifkin. The film stars Burt Reynolds, Ariel Winter, Clark Duke, Ellar Coltrane and Chevy Chase. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Fest ...

'' (2017).

Early life and education

A native of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Rifkin graduated from the

Chicago Academy for the Arts The Chicago Academy for the Arts, founded in 1981, is an independent high school for the performing and visual arts located in the River West neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It was named a National School of Distinction by the John F. Kenne ...

in 1984, after which he moved to Los Angeles. He attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

for one year before dropping out. He then began writing scripts and collaborating with

Brad Wyman Brad Hibbs Wyman (born May 13, 1963) is an American film producer, best known for producing '' Monster'' (2003). His first film was ''White of the Eye'', and later worked on ''Freeway'', ''Trees Lounge'', ''The Dark Backward'', '' The Chase'', a ...

Career

As a screenwriter, Rifkin has written several family-friendly movies. He wrote '' Knucklehead'' for

WWE Studios WWE Studios Inc. (formerly known as WWE Films) is an American film studio owned by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. WWE Studios movies frequently mix well-known actors and actresses in lead roles with WWE wrestlers, and teams with existi ...

, starring WWE star

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

, ''

'' for

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

, ''

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

'', starring

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fo ...

and two films for

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

, ''

'' and ''

Small Soldiers ''Small Soldiers'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Joe Dante and written by Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio. It stars Kirsten Dunst and Gregory Smith, along with the voices of Frank Langella and Tommy L ...

''. Continuing in the family film genre, he wrote the big screen version of

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

for

John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. He also wrote the unused draft of

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...

in 1988. Rifkin's film ''

The Dark Backward ''The Dark Backward'' (also known as ''The Man with Three Arms'') is a 1991 American satirical comedy film written and directed by Adam Rifkin, and starring Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, Wayne Newton, and Lara Flynn Boyle. The film features special m ...

'' was named one of the top ten films of its year by ''The New York Post''. He was then the director responsible for

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...

's ''

Detroit Rock City "Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss, released on their 1976 album ''Destroyer''. The song was written by Paul Stanley and producer Bob Ezrin. The song is one of the band's most popular and is a classic rock staple ...

''.

Directing

Rifkin directed his first film ''

Never on Tuesday ''Never on Tuesday'' is a 1989 American comedy film written and directed by Adam Rifkin. The film was released on VHS video rental by Paramount Home Entertainment in 1989 and was originally slated to be re-released in the United States on DVD fo ...

'' in 1989. As of December 6, 2007, he has directed eleven others, including '' The Chase'' (1994), ''

'' (1999) and the ''

Night at the Golden Eagle ''Night at the Golden Eagle'' is a 2001 American crime drama film written and directed by Adam Rifkin. The low-budget film was a box office bomb, earning about $18,000 against a budget of $1 million. Plot Two elderly criminals spend their fina ...

'' (2002).

Production

Rifkin began his production career in 1999 on the production of ''

Touch Me in the Morning "Touch Me in the Morning" is a song recorded by Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was written by Ron Miller and Michael Masser, and produced by the latter and Tom Baird. It was released on May 3, 1973 as the first single from her album of t ...

'' by

Giuseppe Andrews Joey Murcia Jr. (born April 25, 1979), known professionally as Giuseppe Andrews is an American former actor, screenwriter, director, and singer-songwriter known for his roles as Lex in the 1999 film ''Detroit Rock City'', a bizarre sheriff's d ...

. Preceding his completion of that project, Rifkin produced his own film ''

'' as well as ''Getting Hal'' by Tony Markes.

Acting

Rifkin began his acting career in 1989 his directorial debut ''Never on Tuesday''. Rifkin has appeared in small roles and cameos in his other films, ''

'', ''Without Charlie'', ''

'', ''

Denial Denial, in ordinary English usage, has at least three meanings: asserting that any particular statement or allegation is not true (which might be accurate or inaccurate); the refusal of a request; and asserting that a true statement is not true. ...

'' and ''

Psycho Cop 2 ''Psycho Cop 2'' (also known as ''Psycho Cop Returns'') is a 1993 American slasher film directed by Adam Rifkin, and written by Dan Povenmire. It is the sequel to the 1989 film ''Psycho Cop''. Plot In a coffeehouse, Officer Joe Vickers, a ser ...

''. Rifkin also appeared as Croaker/Miss Spain in the 1989 film, ''

Going Overboard ''Going Overboard'' is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Valerie Breiman, and stars Adam Sandler in his film debut, Burt Young, Allen Covert, Billy Zane, Terry Moore (actress), Terry Moore, Milton Berle and Billy Bob Thornton in a small ro ...

'', starring

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

and

Burt Young Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (born April 30, 1940), known professionally as Burt Young, is an American actor, author and painter. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series. He was nominated for ...

. He also wrote, directed and acted in the 2007 film ''

Homo Erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...

'', in which he portrays a wimpy caveman called Ishbo, the main character in the film. The film's ensemble cast includes

Ali Larter Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made he ...

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...

Talia Shire Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress who played roles as Connie Corleone in ''The Godfather'' films and Adrian Balboa in the ''Rocky'' series. For her work in ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''Rocky'', Shire ...

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

, and

Ron Jeremy Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic ...

Filmography

Film

Acting credits

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rifkin, Adam 1966 births American male actors American film directors American film producers Living people American male writers