Jerry Zucker

Jerry Gordon Zucker is an American filmmaker. With his brother David and Jim Abrahams, he is part the filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker.
He is best known for his role in writing and directing comedy spoof films like Airplane! and Top Secret!, and for co-creating the television series Police Squad!, which was later adapted into The Naked Gun film series.
He is also the director of the Academy Award-winning supernatural drama film Ghost, the first box-office topper of the 1990s.

Early life

Zucker was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Charlotte A. and Burton C. Zucker, who was a real estate developer. He graduated from Shorewood High School. His paternal grandfather was Leonard Zucker who emigrated from Russia to the United States and became a naturalized citizen.

Career

Zucker's early career work started with Jim Abrahams and brother David Zucker. The trio performed in Madison, Wisconsin as a sketch and comedy troupe called "Kentucky Fried Theater.” They later adapted several of these sketches into a comedy anthology film, The Kentucky Fried Movie, directed by John Landis and released in 1977.
From there the three went on and together co-directed Airplane! in 1980 and then went on to do Top Secret! in 1984, and Ruthless People in 1986. Along with Jim Abrahams, the Zuckers constitute the "ZAZ" team of directors.
In 1987, both Jerry and David Zucker through Zucker Brothers Productions had signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures for a two-year non-exclusive production agreement and development deal with the studio. The brothers had anticipated cranking out four comedies for Paramount Pictures during the life of the pact; the first film was a feature film version of the early 1980s television show Police Squad!, which was originally cancelled after six episodes on the air.
In 1990, he lent his directorial skills to the dramatic genre with Ghost, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and won Whoopi Goldberg her only Oscar. Zucker's most recent directorial effort is the 2001 film Rat Race.
Zucker's films have been ranked among the greatest comedies of all time: Airplane! was ranked at the top of Entertainment Weekly's list of best comedy films and AFI listed it as #10; Top Secret! made Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 list.

Personal life

Like his brother David Zucker, Jerry often cast his mother, Charlotte, and his sister, Susan Breslau, in small roles in his films.

Filmography

Film

Producer only

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1992	Brain Donors	Dennis Dugan	Executive producer
1993	My Life	Bruce Joel Rubin
1995	A Walk in the Clouds	Alfonso Arau
1997	My Best Friend's Wedding	P. J. Hogan
2002	Unconditional Love	P. J. Hogan
2010	Fair Game	Doug Liman
2011	Friends with Benefits	Will Gluck
2012	Mental	P. J. Hogan

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Kentucky Fried Movie	Technician #3 / Man / Beaver / Hands
1980	Airplane!	Ground Crewman #1
1984	Top Secret!	East German Soldier
1995	Your Studio and You	Himself	Short film
2014	Asthma	Gus' Father

Television

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Note
1972	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Performer	Part as Kentucky Fried Theater in one episode
1974	The Midnight Special	Performer	Part as Kentucky Fried Theater in one episode