James L. Brooks

by Hal Erickson film biography

One of the few producer/director/writers to handle both movie and TV assignments with equal aplomb, James L. Brooks was born in Brooklyn and spent his college years in New York City. Following an apprenticeship with CBS news, Brooks went to work for documentary producer David L. Wolper. In 1969, Brooks broke into the non-documentary end of the business with his TV series drama Room 222, which, though dated and obvious when viewed today, was an important stepping stone in improving the racial balance on prime time television. Room 222 was a "serious" effort; thus, Hollywood insiders were surprised when Brooks formed a partnership with writer Allan Burns, formerly of such raucous projects as The Bullwinkle Show and My Mother the Car, to develop sitcoms.

Brooks and Burns knew what sort of programs they wanted to do, but they were forced to fight tooth and nail with the CBS higher-ups to get what they wanted on the air. Nobody, they were told, wanted to see a show about a single woman working at a television station. Further, nobody wanted to see anyone on TV who was Jewish, had a mustache, or came from New York City. All these "unwanted" elements would be present in the Brooks/Burns project The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the show that nobody wanted ran from 1970 through 1977, earning its production team a multitude of awards. Brooks would later be on the ground floor of such TV hits as Cheers and Taxi, which more than compensated for such relative failures as The Associates.

Moving into films as a producer/scripter (Starting Over, 1979) and even an occasional actor (Albert Brooks's Modern Romance, 1981), Brooks would end up director/producer/writer of Terms of Endearment, the Academy Award winner of 1983. He went on to direct Broadcast News (1987), a truer but no less hilarious and poignant glance at the cutthroat network news business than Mary Tyler Moore Show had been. He also found great success as a producer on such films as Big (1988), ...Say Anything (1989), and Jerry Maguire (1996). During the '90s, Brooks has had equal parts success and failure. Among the winning projects was The Simpsons, the first successful prime time cartoon series since The Flintstones. Brooks' less spectacular efforts have included I'll Do Anything (1994); conceived and filmed as a return to the Big-Budget Musical genre, it tested so poorly that it was released with all the songs cut out. In 1997, however, Brooks had a major success with the Jack Nicholson/Helen Hunt vehicle As Good As It Gets, a caustic comedy with a heart of gold that provided both Hunt and Nicholson best acting kudos from the Oscars and Golden Globe ceremonies. The film won a Golden Globe for Best Picture and was nominated for several more. It also received several more Oscar nominations, including one for Best Screenplay.

filmography snapshot

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

Year	Title	Rating
1965	The March of Time: The Enterprise In Action Screenwriter
1968	The Andy Griffith Show: Emmett's Brother-in-Law Screenwriter
1968	The Andy Griffith Show: The Mayberry Chef Screenwriter
1970	The Mary Tyler Moore Show [TV Series] Executive Producer
1970	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid Screenwriter
1970	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Love Is All Around Screenwriter
1970	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Support Your Local Mother Screenwriter
1971	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Just a Lunch Screenwriter
1971	Thursday's Game Producer, Teleplay By
1972	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Good-Time News Screenwriter
1974	Thursday's Game Screenwriter, Producer, Director
1977	Lou Grant [TV Series] Executive Producer
1977	The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Last Show Screenwriter
1978	Cindy Producer, Screenwriter
1978	Taxi [TV Series] Show Creator, Executive Producer
1978	Taxi: Like Father, Like Daughter Screenwriter
1978	Taxi: Season 01 Executive Producer
1979	Real Life Actor
1979	Starting Over Screenwriter, Producer
1979	Taxi: Season 02 Executive Producer
1980	Taxi: Season 03 Executive Producer
1981	Modern Romance Actor
1981	Taxi: Season 04 Executive Producer
1982	Taxi: Season 05 Executive Producer
1983	Terms of Endearment Director, Producer, Screenwriter
1987	Broadcast News Screenwriter, Producer, Director
1988	Big Co-producer
1989	Say Anything... Executive Producer
1989	The War of the Roses Co-producer
1994	I'll Do Anything Producer, Director, Screenwriter
1996	Bottle Rocket Producer, Executive Producer
1996	Jerry Maguire Producer
1997	As Good As It Gets Screenwriter, Director, Producer
2001	Riding in Cars With Boys Producer
2001	What About Joan [TV Series] Executive Producer
2004	Spanglish Director, Screenwriter, Producer
2007	The Simpsons Movie Producer, Screenwriter
2010	How Do You Know Director, Producer, Screenwriter

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photos (3)

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Michael Buckner/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Movie Genres

Active

1965 - 2010

Born

05/09/1940 in Brooklyn, NY

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