# Jerry Zucker

Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. He is best known for his role in writing and directing comedy spoof films like Airplane! (1980) and Top Secret! (1984), 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 (1990).

## Early life

Zucker was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Charlotte A. (Lefstein) (d. 2007) 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 inked 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. 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 (who died in 2007), and his sister, Susan Breslau, in small roles in his films.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1977 | The Kentucky Fried Movie | No | Yes | No | |
| 1980 | Airplane! | Yes | Yes | Executive | Co-director with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker |
| 1984 | Top Secret! | Yes | Yes | Executive | Co-director with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker |
| 1986 | Ruthless People | Yes | No | No | Co-director with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker |
| 1988 | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | No | Yes | Executive | |
| 1990 | Ghost | Yes | No | No | |
| 1991 | The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear | No | Characters | Executive | |
| 1994 | Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | No | Characters | Executive | |
| 1995 | First Knight | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2001 | Rat Race | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2025 | The Naked Gun | No | Characters | No | Post-production |

#### 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(s) | 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
#### TV series

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1976 | Big John, Little John | No | Yes | No | writer of episode "Abracadabra" with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker |
| 1982 | Police Squad! | Yes | Yes | Executive | director and writer of episode "A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)" with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker |
| 1987 | Our Planet Tonight | No | No | Executive | TV movie |
| 2013 | Dear Dumb Diary | No | No | Executive | TV movie |
| 2019 | Late Night Berlin | No | No | Creative | Episode "Folge 42" |

#### 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 |