Robert Thom (July 2, 1929 – May 8, 1979) was an American writer of films, plays, novels and poems, best known for writing the screenplay for '' Death Race 2000'' (1975), produced by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

's New World and directed by

Paul Bartel Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy '' Eating Raoul'', which he wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and ...

Early life

Born Robert Flatow in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Lily Pendlebury and Julian Flatow, Thom graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 1952 and became a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

where he studied in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for a year.

Career

He sold his first play, ''The Minotaur'', to the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

producers,

José Quintero José Benjamín Quintero (15 October 1924 – 26 February 1999) was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill. Biography Early years Quintero was born in Panama C ...

, Ted Mann, Emilie Stevens and Jason Wingreen, in 1954 and went on to establish himself as a young playwriting talent in the New York City theater scene. In 1957, he came to Broadway to work on ''Compulsion'' based on the book and play by

Meyer Levin Meyer Levin (October 7, 1905 – July 9, 1981) was an American novelist. Perhaps best known for his work on the Leopold and Loeb case, Levin worked as a journalist (for the ''Chicago Daily News'' and, from 1933–1939, as an editor for ''Esquir ...

about the

Leopold and Loeb Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two wealthy students at the University of Chicago ...

case. It starred

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

and

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

and ran for 140 performances but Thom only received an assistant to the producers credit and 20% of Levin's royalties. He later worked on the screenplay for the 1959 film version starring

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. He moved to the West Coast to work for MGM and wrote screenplays for youth films such as '' The Subterraneans'', based on the novel by

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian an ...

, and ''

All the Fine Young Cannibals ''All the Fine Young Cannibals'' is a 1960 American film directed by Michael Anderson, based on the novel by Rosamond Marshall, starring Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, Susan Kohner, George Hamilton and Pearl Bailey. Hamilton said that the film " ...

'' (both 1960) as well on others uncredited. He co-wrote an episode of '' The DuPont Show of the Week'' ("The Legend of Lylah Clare" 1963) which was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and later made into a film released in 1968. A week after the broadcast of the ''DuPont Show'' he won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama for a two-part episode of the TV series '' The Defenders'' called ''The Madman'' starring Sylvia Sidney and Don Gordon. ''Bicycle Ride to Nevada'' starring

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

opened on Broadway on September 24, 1963 but closed after just one day. '' Wild in the Streets'', based on a short story written by Thom and originally published in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' under the title, "The Day It All Happened, Baby!" was an exploitation film success for

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

in 1968. He directed his only film, ''

Angel, Angel, Down We Go ''Angel, Angel, Down We Go'', also known as ''Cult of the Damned'', is a 1969 American film directed by playwright and screenwriter Robert Thom, his sole directorial credit. Thom based his screenplay on an unproduced stage play of the same title ...

'', in 1969 for AIP, which he also wrote. He also wrote several novels and had just finished ''Masquerade'' before his death.

Personal life

He was married to actress Joan Zell from 1953 to 1956; Zell committed suicide at Thom's home in 1961. He married actress Janice Rule in 1956; the couple had one daughter, Kate, before they divorced in 1961. Thom married actress

Millie Perkins Millie Perkins (born May 12, 1938) is an American film and television actress known for her debut film role as Anne Frank in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and for her supporting actress roles in two 1966 Westerns, '' The Shooting'' and '' ...

in 1964; they had two daughters, Hedy and Lillie, and were separated at the time of his death in 1979.

Selected theatre credits

*''The Minotaur'' (1954) *''Sailing to Byzantium'' *''Compulsion'' (1957) *''Bicycle Ride to Nevada'' (1963)

Selected Poems

*''Children of Ladybug'' *''Vaticum''

Selected film credits

*''

Compulsion Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

'' (1959) *'' The Subterraneans'' (1960) *''

'' (1960) *'' Wild in the Streets'' (1968) *''

The Legend of Lylah Clare ''The Legend of Lylah Clare'' is a 1968 American drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Robert Aldrich. The film stars Peter Finch, Kim Novak (in multiple roles), Ernest Borgnine, Michael Murphy, and Valentina Cortese. The fi ...

'' (1968) *''

'' (1969) – also directed *''

Bloody Mama ''Bloody Mama'' is a 1970 American exploitation crime film directed by Roger Corman and starring Shelley Winters in the title role, with Bruce Dern, Don Stroud, Robert Walden, Alex Nicol, and Robert De Niro in supporting roles. It was very loose ...

'' (1970) *''

The Phantom of Hollywood ''The Phantom of Hollywood'' is a 1974 American made-for-television horror thriller film and starring Skye Aubrey, Jack Cassidy, Jackie Coogan, Broderick Crawford, Peter Haskell John Ireland and Peter Lawford. It is notable for being one of th ...

'' (1974) *''Alias Big Cherry'' (1975) *'' Death Race 2000'' (1975) *''

Crazy Mama ''Crazy Mama'' is a 1975 American action comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, produced by Julie Corman and starring Cloris Leachman. It marked the film debut of Bill Paxton and Dennis Quaid. Plot In 1958 Long Beach, California, Melba Stok ...

'' (1975)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thom, Robert American male screenwriters 1929 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters