Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American parody film written and directed by the brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams in their directorial debuts, and produced by Jon Davison (film prod ...

'' and '' Top Secret!'', and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film ''

Ghost A ghost is the soul (spirit), soul or spirit of a dead Human, person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visibl ...

''. He and his older brother, David Zucker, collaborated on several films.

Life and career

Zucker was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, the son of Charlotte A. (Lefstein) (d. 2007) and Burton C. Zucker, who was a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

developer. He graduated from Shorewood High School. His paternal grandfather was Leonard Zucker who emigrated from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and became a naturalized citizen. Zucker's early career work started with Jim Abrahams and brother David Zucker. The trio performed in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

as a sketch and comedy troupe called "Kentucky Fried Theater". From there the three went on and together co-directed ''

'' in 1980 and then went on to do '' Top Secret!'' in 1984, and '' Ruthless People'' in 1986. In 1987, both Jerry and David Zucker through Zucker Brothers Productions had inked an agreement with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

for a two-year non-exclusive production agreement and development deal with the studio. The brothers had anticipated cranking out four comedies for

during the life of the pact; the first film was a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

version of the early 1980s television show '' Police Squad!'', which was originally cancelled after six episodes on the air. In 1990, he lent his directorial skills to the dramatic genre with ''

'', which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categor ...

. Zucker's most recent directorial effort is the 2001 film '' Rat Race''. Zucker's films have been ranked among the greatest comedies of all time: ''Airplane!'' was ranked at the top of '' Entertainment Weekly's'' list of best comedy films and AFI listed it as #10; ''Top Secret!'' made ''Entertainment Weeklys Top 100 list. Like his brother David Zucker, Jerry often cast his mother, Charlotte (who died in 2007), and his sister, Susan Breslau, in small roles in his films. Along with Jim Abrahams, the Zuckers constitute the "

ZAZ ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant ( uk, ЗАЗ, Запорізький автомобілебудівний завод, ''Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod'' or ''Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod'') is the main automobile manufacturer of Ukr ...

" team of directors.

Filmography

Films

Acting roles

Television

TV series

Acting roles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zucker, Jerry American parodists 1950 births Film directors from Wisconsin Living people Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American film producers Jewish American film directors Writers from Milwaukee Filmmakers from Milwaukee Writers Guild of America Award winners University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Screenwriters from Wisconsin Comedy film directors Parody film directors Shorewood High School (Wisconsin) alumni 21st-century American Jews