Richard Hack (born March 20, 1951) is an American writer best known for his biographical books and screenplays. He is a frequent guest on

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

s and an outspoken critic of bias in television news.

Background

Born in

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, an increase over 28,043 in 2010, and accounting for over one-third of Up ...

, Hack attended the Lynnewood School, and Haverford High School, on the Main Line in suburban

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He later attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and holds a master's degree in

Environmental Design Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environm ...

. Hack moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he was hired by ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' magazine as its West Coast national programming editor. By the early 1980s, Hack began writing the TeleVisions column for the daily entertainment trade paper, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

.'' During the next decade, Hack often appeared on '' The Tonight Show'' and '' Today'' reporting on Hollywood. During the same period, he was a frequent guest on ''

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

,'' ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

,'' ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

,'' ''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show ''Charlie Rose (talk show), Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg L.P., Bloombe ...

,'' '' Tomorrow,'' ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

,'' and '' Access Hollywood.'' In 1990, Hack left ''The Hollywood Reporter'' to become Vice President of Creative Affairs at Dove Audio and Entertainment, a production company that specialized in

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

and books-on-tape. While at Dove, Hack adapted Sidney Sheldon’s '' The Sands of Time'', '' Memories of Midnight'', and '' The Stars Shine Down'' as mini-series, which he also produced, and wrote his first book, ''Next to Hughes'' with Robert Maheu. Since leaving Dove, Hack moved to a horse ranch in

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

, where he stabled polo ponies, and established a home on the Intracoastal in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. His bestseller ''Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters'', a memoir on billionaire

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

, was released on September 11, 2001. Hack was being interviewed live on the ''Today'' show by Matt Lauer when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, and Lauer consequently had to cut their interview short to report on the ongoing events. The abrupt ending of their interview and the early reports of the attack from the ''Today'' show, is shown in a continuous loop, as part of an exhibit in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. His subsequent book, ''PuppetMaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover'' was the basis of the 2011 film '' J. Edgar'', directed by

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

Published works

*1991: ''Scanners II: The New Order'' (writing as Professor Janus Kimball) *1993: ''Next to Hughes'' (with Robert Maheu) *1994: ''Richard Hack’s Home Video Companion for Parents'' *1994: ''Unfinished Lives'' *1995: ''LoveMates: An Astrological Guide to Romance'' *1995: ''The Dinosaur Who Wouldn't Brush His Teeth'' (writing as Dr. Dandelion) *1995: ''Jackson Family Values'' (with Margaret Maldanado Jackson) *1995: ''Memories of Madison County'' (with Jana St. James) *1996: ''Waffle the Bear's Amazing Adventure'' (writing as Dr. Dandelion) *1996: ''Your Life: An Owner’s Manual'' *1997: ''When Money Is King: How Revlon's Ron Perlman Mastered the World of Finance to Create One of America's Greatest Business Empires, and Found Glamour, Beauty, and the High Life in the Bargain'' *1998: ''Open House'' *2000: ''Madness in the Morning: Life and Death in TV's Early Morning Ratings War'' *2001: ''Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters'' (interrupted while being interviewed about the book on NBC's Today show due to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

) *2002: ''Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

and

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

Has Created Global Empires That Control What We Read and Watch'' *2004: ''PuppetMaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover'' *2009: ''Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie'' *2013: "Baby Boomers' Guide to the Fountain of Youth" *2017: "The Lion & the Bluebird: The Peter Bistrian Story"

''The Aviator'' misattribution

It is sometimes stated that Hack's book ''Hughes'' served as the basis for

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

's 2004 film about Howard Hughes, '' The Aviator''. However, two competing films about Hughes were in development at the same time. The other film was to have been directed by Christopher Nolan, with star Jim Carrey and financing from Castle Rock Entertainment. Its script was going to be based on Hack's biography. That film was never produced. However, ''The Aviator'' star

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

has referred to Hack's biography in interviews about the film., 25 January 2002. Retrieved 2010-06-25.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hack, Richard 1951 births Living people People from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Writers from Delaware County, Pennsylvania American biographers American male biographers American children's writers American information and reference writers American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Pennsylvania