Warren Skaaren (March 9, 1946 - December 28, 1990) was an American screenwriter and film producer.

Career

Skaaren was appointed by Governor Preston Smith as executive director of the newly formed

Texas Film Commission The Texas Film Commission is a state agency of Texas, under the oversight of the Governor of Texas. Its headquarters are in Suite 3.410 in the Texas Insurance Building in Downtown Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, ...

on December 9, 1970. His first success was getting the film '' The Getaway'' shot in Texas. Nearly 40 more feature films were shot in Texas while Skaaren headed the Film Commission. He was a driving force behind the distribution of ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, wh ...

'', a film in which he took a personal financial stake. The success of the film enabled Skaaren to leave the Film Commission and begin his career in the film industry. His notable writing includes: '' Fire with Fire'' (1986), ''

Beverly Hills Cop II ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film '' Beverly Hills Cop'' and the second in ...

'' (1987), '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

'' (1989). He was also credited as

associate 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, dir ...

for ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by ...

'' (1986), having compiled several drafts into the shooting script in less than a week. This resulted in a mention in Variety and led him to acclaim in the industry as a

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other eleme ...

. He had also written unproduced sequels to '' The Jewel of the Nile'' (1985) called ''The Crimson Eagle'' and '' Beetlejuice'' (1989) called ''Beetlejuice in Love''. According to its draft date, ''Beetlejuice in Love'' is believed to be the last screenplay he wrote before his death.

Personal life

Skaaren was a native of

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Ac ...

. He graduated from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

in Houston, Texas in 1969. He served as the Student Association President from 1968–1969 and was a member of Hanszen College. He moved to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and began working at the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. He married Helen Griffin on March 7, 1969. He and his wife fostered seven children, and he helped found the Travis County Foster Parents Association. He also served on the board of directors of the Deborah Hay Dance Company. In 1986 he established a private charitable trust, the Laurel Foundation, and was involved with the East West Center, a

macrobiotic diet A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a fad diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce ...

ary provider. He died of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, th ...

on December 28, 1990. He was 44 years old.Warren Skaaren Papers
Research.hrc.utexas.edu
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Legacy

Skaaren's archive resides at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pu ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Filmography

*'' Fire with Fire'' (with Bill Phillips, Paul Boorstin and Susan Boorstin) (1986) *''

'' (with

Larry Ferguson Larry P Ferguson (March 19, 1940 – May 31, 2015) was a college football player for the University of Iowa. He was named a first-team All-American in 1960 and played one season for the Detroit Lions. He has six kids Darrick, Lori, Larry Jr., ...

) (1987) *'' Beetlejuice'' (with Michael McDowell'') (1988) *''

'' (with Sam Hamm) (1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skaaren, Warren 1946 births 1990 deaths American male screenwriters Deaths from cancer in Texas People from Rochester, Minnesota Rice University alumni Deaths from bone cancer 20th-century American businesspeople Screenwriters from Minnesota Film producers from Minnesota 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters