James L. Brooks

James L. Brooks

Production
Born 1940-05-09 North Bergen, New Jersey, USA 8 credit(s) Popularity 0.6
James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. Brooks star...
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Biography

Profile information and background.

James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.

Brooks started his career as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the CBS News broadcasts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolper's documentaries. He wrote for My Mother the Car and My Friend Tony and created the series Room 222. Grant Tinker hired Brooks and producer Allan Burns at MTM Productions to create The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. Brooks and Burns then created two successful spin-offs from Mary Tyler Moore: Rhoda (a comedy) and Lou Grant (a drama). Brooks left MTM Productions in 1978 to co-create the sitcom Taxi (1978-1983).

Brooks moved into feature film work when he wrote and co-produced the 1979 film Starting Over. His next project was the critically acclaimed film Terms of Endearment, which he produced, directed and wrote, winning an Academy Award for all three roles. He earned acclaim for his films Broadcast News (1987) and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received mixed reviews for  I'll Do Anything (1994), Spanglish (2004), and How Do You Know (2010). Brooks also produced Cameron Crowe's Say Anything... (1989) and Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket (1996).

In 1986, Brooks founded Gracie Films, a television and film company. Although he did not intend to do so, Brooks returned to television in 1987 as the producer of The Tracey Ullman Show. He hired cartoonist Matt Groening to create a series of shorts for the show, which led in 1989 to The Simpsons. The Simpsons won numerous awards and is still running after over 35 years. Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, The Simpsons Movie. Brooks has received 53 Emmy nominations, winning 21 of them.

Description above from the Wikipedia article James L. Brooks, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Main acting credits and shows.

The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling poster
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
as Self
2018-03-26
What About Joan? poster
What About Joan?
as Producer
2001-03-27
The Critic poster
The Critic
as Producer
1994-01-26
The Simpsons poster
The Simpsons
as James L. Brooks (voice)
1989-12-17
Taxi poster
Taxi
as Executive Producer, Writer
1978-09-12
Lou Grant poster
Lou Grant
as Executive Producer
1977-09-20
Saturday Night Live poster
Saturday Night Live
as Paul Reynolds (uncredited)
1975-10-11
Rhoda poster
Rhoda
as Producer, Writer
1974-09-09

Crew Credits

Directing, writing, production, and other work.

No crew credits available yet.