Michael Stoddard Laughlin (November 28, 1938 – October 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter.

Life

Laughlin was raised in Minonk, Illinois, where his father Donald M. Laughlin had extensive farms. He played basketball and studied law at college. During his first few days in California, he met the Dean Martin family and other movie stars, which had a lasting effect on him. His mother Hazel Stoddard Laughlin died in 1965. During the late 1960s, he lived in London, where he produced ''The Whisperers'' starring Dame Edith Evans, directed by

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 an ...

. It was in London that he met and married

Leslie Caron Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French-American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. She is one ...

who had two children from her previous marriage to Sir Peter Hall. They moved to Los Angeles where they settled in Cuesta Way, Bel Air, and over the next few years, Laughlin produced a series of groundbreaking films including the cult hit ''

Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road movie directed by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Plot Two street racers, the Dri ...

'' starring

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

and

Laurie Bird Laurie Bird (September 26, 1953 – June 15, 1979) was an American film actress and photographer. She appeared in three films during the 1970s. Two of them were directed by Monte Hellman. She was romantically involved with Hellman and Art G ...

. He also worked with writers and directors

Floyd Mutrux Floyd Mutrux (born June 21, 1941) is an American stage director, stage and film director, writer, producer, and screenwriter. Career He began his work in Hollywood as an uncredited writer for ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971). His career continue ...

and

Monte Hellman Monte Hellman (; born Monte Jay Himmelbaum; July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the ho ...

. He and Caron separated in 1975, after living in Paris for a year. Laughlin then lived with the writer

Susanna Moore Susanna Moore (born December 9, 1945) is an American writer and teacher. Born in Pennsylvania but raised in Hawaii, Moore worked as a model and script reader in Los Angeles and New York City before beginning her career as a writer. Her first nove ...

. They lived in London and New York during the 1980s and 1990s, and Laughlin began writing and directing genre films styled in homage to 1950s B-movies. ''Mesmerized'', which Laughlin wrote and directed, was produced by

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

. After separating from Moore, Michael Laughlin wrote screenplays for Hollywood studios, including ''Town & Country''. Laughlin died from complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on October 20, 2021, at the age of 82.

Awards and accolades

In 2012, ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' was chosen as one of only 20 films to be housed in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Hailed as a minimalist classic, it was chosen as a fine example of the short-lived period of youth-oriented films following ''Bonnie and Clyde'', ''The Graduate'' and ''Easy Rider'' in the late 1960s. Producers such as Laughlin financed a spate of low-budget, innovative films by young "New Hollywood" filmmakers, with influences ranging from playwright Samuel Beckett to European filmmakers Robert Bresson, Jacques Rivette and Michelangelo Antonioni. In 1984, ''Strange Invaders'' was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Screenplay and for Best Film at the Avoriaz Fantasy Film Festival.

Filmography

*''

The Whisperers ''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...

'' (1967; producer) *''

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan (given name), Joan, Joann, Joanne (given name), Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in ...

'' (1968; producer) *''

'' (1971; producer) *''

Dusty and Sweets McGee ''Dusty and Sweets McGee'' is a 1971 American drama film written and directed by Floyd Mutrux. The film stars Clifton Tip Fredell, Kit Ryder, Billy Gray, Bob Graham, Nancy Wheeler and Russ Knight. The film was released by Warner Bros. on July 1 ...

'' (1971; producer) *''

The Christian Licorice Store ''The Christian Licorice Store'' is a 1971 American drama film directed by James Frawley and starring Beau Bridges and Maud Adams. The title of the film is based on lyrics from the song "Pleasant Street" by Tim Buckley who makes a cameo in the ...

'' (1971; producer) *'' Strange Behavior'' (1981; writer/director) *''

Strange Invaders ''Strange Invaders'' is a 1983 American science fiction film directed and co-written by Michael Laughlin, and stars Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen and Diana Scarwid. Produced as a tribute to the sci-fi films of the 1950s, notably ''The Invasion of t ...

'' (1983; writer/director) *'' Mesmerized'' (1986; writer/director) *'' Town & Country'' (2001; writer)

References

External links

*
National Film Registry, Library of CongressCriterion Collection essay on Two-Lane BlacktopVariety Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laughlin, Michael 1938 births 2021 deaths Film producers from Illinois American male screenwriters People from Minonk, Illinois Film directors from Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Hawaii