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Jim Abrahams
Abrahams in 2015
Born	James Steven Abrahams (1944-05-10)May 10, 1944 Shorewood, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	November 26, 2024(2024-11-26) (aged 80) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupations	Film director film producer screenwriter
Years active	1976–2019
Spouse	Nancy Cocuzzo
Children	3

James Steven Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American film director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker.

Life and career

James Steven Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, to a Jewish family in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Ogens), an educational researcher, and Norman S. Abrahams, a lawyer. He attended Shorewood High School. He had a home in Eagle River, Wisconsin, where he spent summers from the time he was a child.

He is best known for the spoof movies that he co-wrote and produced with brothers Jerry Zucker and David Zucker, such as Airplane! (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) and The Naked Gun series. The team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (also referred to as "ZAZ") really began when the three men grew up together in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He directed movies on his own, such as Big Business, and further honed his skills in parody with Hot Shots! and its 1993 sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux.

Abrahams and his wife, Nancy (née Cocuzzo) co-founded The Charlie Foundation To Help Cure Pediatric Epilepsy. He was an advocate of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy.

Abrahams had three children. His daughter, Jamie Abrahams, is also a comedy writer. He died from leukemia at his home in Santa Monica, California, on November 26, 2024, at the age of 80. He had the disease for twenty years before his death and at one point was in remission until it returned.

Filmography

Films

Executive producer only

• Cry-Baby (1990)
• The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
• Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)

Acting roles

Television

Series

Other work

Acting roles

References

1. Desser, David; Friedman, Lester D. (2004). American Jewish Filmmakers. University of Illinois Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780252071539.
2. ^ Kozeluk, Chris (November 26, 2024). "Jim Abrahams, 'Airplane!,' 'Naked Gun' and 'Hot Shots!' Master of Mirth, Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter.
3. ^ Jan Uebelherr (December 28, 2012). "Louise Abrahams Yaffe: 'Airplane' co-creator's mother set her own course: Yaffe was advocate for the aging, occasional actress". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
4. Up-North Escape – All Ways Forward Retrieved 2018-11-01.
5. Abrams, Jim. "Charlie's Story". CURE Epilepsy. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
6. ^ "'Airplane!' and 'Naked Gun' Creator Jim Abrahams Dead at 80". TMZ. November 26, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.

External links

• Jim Abrahams at IMDb
• Biography, The New York Times (from AllMovie)
• Charlie's Story; accessed November 25, 2014.
• Jim Abrahams discography at Discogs

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• 1944 births
• 2024 deaths
• 20th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American screenwriters
• American comedy writers
• American male screenwriters
• American male television writers
• American parodists
• American television directors
• American television producers
• American television writers
• American comedy film directors
• Film directors from Wisconsin
• Film producers from Wisconsin
• Filmmakers from Milwaukee
• Jewish American comedy writers
• Jewish film people
• Jewish American screenwriters
• Parody film directors
• People from Shorewood, Wisconsin
• People from Eagle River, Wisconsin
• Screenwriters from Wisconsin
• Shorewood High School (Wisconsin) alumni
• Writers Guild of America Award winners
• Deaths from leukemia in California
• American film director stubs