Jim Abrahams, Co-Director of ‘Airplane!’, Dies at 80

One of the creators of some of the funniest movies of the 20th century has died. Jim Abrahams, best known as one third of the “ZAZ” comedy team with David and Jerry Zucker passed away on Tuesday. His son told The Hollywood Reporter he died of natural causes. Abrahams was 80 years old.

The ZAZ team is best known for writing and directing 1980’s Airplane! As a team, the trio also directed 1984’s Top Secret! and 1986’s Ruthless People. They also co-wrote The Kentucky Fried Movie (directed by John Landis) and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (directed by David Zucker solo). Their signature brand of comedy was marked by chaos and absurdity, along with a go for broke, anything-is-allowed-as-long-as-it’s-funny attitude.

Paramount

Abrahams grew up in Wisconsin as a childhood friend of the Zuckers. In their 20s they all began performing together as a part of a comedy troupe they dubbed “The Kentucky Fried Theater.” Then the trio moved to Los Angeles and started a Kentucky Fried Theater there in the hopes of breaking into show business.

Despite the success of the theater in Los Angeles, it took the trio years to finally get their Kentucky Fried Movie made — and even then their script, a collection of shorts and sketches they had honed in their live comedy act, was given to Landis (who already had a couple of low-budget productions under his belt) to direct. After Kentucky Fried Movie became an sizable hit in theaters, it took several more years to convince a studio to take a chance on Airplane! with them as first-time directors.

It was Paramount that finally decided to gamble on ZAZ and Airplane! and they were rewarded with a huge hit. The movie was based on an obscure 1950s thriller called Zero Hour! and also lampooned the disaster movies that were popular during that period like Airport and The Towering Inferno. The film combined non-stop gags and witty wordplay with an eclectic cast of dramatic actors playing very silly material extremely straight — like TV star Peter Graves as the pilot, Captain Oveur.

One of Airplane!’s breakout stars, Leslie Nielsen, then returned in ZAZ’s television series Police Squad!, a cop show spoof that was years ahead of its time. The show was canceled after only a handful of episodes — but Abrahams and the Zuckers then reworked the material as The Naked Gun, which became a successful trilogy of movies. (A remake is currently in the works with Liam Neeson in the Nielsen role.)

ZAZ’s next feature was Top Secret!, a spoof of Elvis movies and Cold War spy pictures. It starred a young Val Kilmer as rock star Nick Rivers. As you can see, it is quite silly.

By the late 1980s, the ZAZ team began working more as individuals. Abrams’ biggest hits as a solo act were the two Hot Shots! movies, which spoofed Top Gun, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and other macho ’80s action movies, and starred Charlie Sheen.

Abrahams’ other films as director include Big Business, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, and Mafia! In later years, Abrahams was also extremely proud of the work he did with his foundation devoted to pediatric epilepsy; he writes passionately about in the final pages of his recent oral history of Airplane! that he co-wrote with the Zuckers, Surely You Can’t Be Serious.

Although the Zuckers and Abrahams worked together infrequently from the early ’90s on, they remained close, and continued to appear together at Airplane! screenings, in documentaries about their work, and they all collaborated on that excellent oral history of Airplane! That film continues to stand the test of time as one of the greatest and most influential movie comedies of the 20th century.

Abrahams will be missed. Surely.