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James Lawrence "Jim" Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job 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. After being laid off he met producer Allan Burns who secured him a job as a writer on the series ''My Mother the Car''. Brooks wrote for several shows before being hired as a story editor on ''My Friend Tony'' and later created the series ''Room 222''. Grant Tinker hired Brooks and Burns at MTM Productions to create ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' in 1970. The show, one of the first to feature an independent working woman as its lead character, was critically acclaimed and won Brooks several Primetime Emmy Awards. Brooks and Burns then created two successful spin-offs from ''Mary Tyler Moore'' in the shape of ''Rhoda'' (a comedy) and ''Lou Grant'' (a drama). Brooks left MTM Productions in 1978 to co-create the sitcom ''Taxi'' which, despite winning multiple Emmys, suffered from low ratings and was canceled twice. 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 positions. Basing his next film, ''Broadcast News'', on his journalistic experiences, the film earned him a further two Academy Award nominations. Although his 1994 work ''I'll Do Anything'' was hampered by negative press attention due to the cutting of all of its recorded musical numbers, ''As Good as It Gets'' (co-written with Mark Andrus) earned further praise. It was seven years until his next film, 2004's ''Spanglish''. His sixth film, ''How Do You Know'', was released in 2010. Brooks also produced and mentored Cameron Crowe on ''Say Anything...'' (1989) and Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson on ''Bottle Rocket'' (1996). In 1984, Brooks founded the television and film company, Gracie Films. 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 eventually led to ''The Simpsons'' in 1989. ''The Simpsons'' won numerous awards and is still running. Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, ''The Simpsons Movie''. In total, Brooks has received 47 Emmy nominations, winning 20 of them.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search )〕 == Early life == Brooks was born James Lawrence Brooks on May 9, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, and raised in North Bergen, New Jersey.〔 His parents, Dorothy and Edward Brooks, were both salespeople (his mother sold children's clothes; his father furniture).〔 The Brooks family was Jewish; Edward Brooks changed his surname from Bernstein and claimed to be Irish. Brooks' father abandoned his mother when he found out she was pregnant with him,〔 and lost contact with his son when Brooks was twelve. During the pregnancy, Brooks' father sent his wife a postcard stating that "If it's a boy, name him Jim."〔 His mother died when he was 22.〔 He has described his early life as "tough" with a "broken home, (him being ) poor and sort of lonely, that sort of stuff",〔 later adding: "My father was sort of in-and-out and my mother worked long hours, so there was no choice but for me to be alone in the apartment a lot." He has an older sister, Dianne, who helped look after him as a child.〔〔 Brooks spent much of his childhood "surviving" and reading numerous comedic and scripted works,〔 as well as writing; he sent comedic short stories out to publishers and occasionally got positive responses although none were published,〔 and he did not believe he could make a career as a writer.〔 Brooks attended Weehawken High School but was not a high achiever. He was on his high school newspaper team and frequently secured interviews with celebrities including Louis Armstrong.〔〔Horgan, Richard. ("When James L. Brooks Interviewed Louis Armstrong" ), ''Adweek'', October 27, 2011. Accessed October 23, 2015. "Right off the bat, Pollak wondered if those stories of Brooks having interviewed Louis Armstrong for the Weehawken High School newspaper were Internet hooey. Brooks was happy to confirm a semi-wonderful New Jersey journalism world:"〕 He lists some of his influences as Sid Caesar, Jack Benny, Lenny Bruce, Mike Nichols and Elaine May,〔 as well as writers Paddy Chayefsky and F. Scott Fitzgerald.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James L. Brooks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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