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Jerry Zucker
Jerry Zucker
	Zucker on November 4, 2006
Born	Jerry Gordon Zucker; March 11, 1950 (age 74); Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Janet Krausz (m. 1987)
Children	2
Family	David Zucker (brother)

Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film producer, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as Airplane! and Top Secret!, and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film Ghost.^[1] He and his older brother, David Zucker, collaborated on several films.

Life and career

Zucker was born to a Jewish family^[2] in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Charlotte A. (Lefstein) (d. 2007) and Burton C. Zucker, who was a real estate developer.^[3]^[4] He graduated from Shorewood High School.^[5] His paternal grandfather was Leonard Zucker who emigrated from Russia to the United States and became a naturalized citizen.

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". 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. 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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. Along with Jim Abrahams, the Zuckers constitute the "ZAZ" team of directors.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1977	The Kentucky Fried Movie	No	No	Yes
1980	Airplane!	Yes	Executive	Yes	Co-directed with Jim Abrahams & David Zucker
1984	Top Secret!	Yes	Executive	Yes
1986	Ruthless People	Yes	No	No
1988	The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!	No	Executive	Yes
1990	Ghost	Yes	No	No
1991	The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear	No	Executive	No
1992	Brain Donors	No	Executive	No
1993	My Life	No	Yes	No
1994	Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult	No	Executive	No
1995	First Knight	Yes	Yes	No
1995	A Walk in the Clouds	No	Yes	No
1997	My Best Friend's Wedding	No	Yes	No
2001	Rat Race	Yes	Yes	No
2002	Unconditional Love	No	Yes	No
2010	Fair Game	No	Yes	No
2011	Friends with Benefits	No	Yes	No
2012	Mental	No	Yes	No

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!	German Soldier
1995	Your Studio and You	Himself	Short film
2014	Asthma	Gus' Father

Television

TV series

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