Voting Station

Tom Mankiewicz

Please vote to return to collections.

Screenwriter

The Resume

    (June 1, 1942-July 31, 2010)
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Son of director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz
    Writer for ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ (1971), ‘Live and Let Die’ (1973), ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ (1974), ‘Mother, Jugs, and Speed’ (1976), ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ (1976), ‘Superman’ (1978), ‘Superman II’ (1981), ‘Ladyhawke’ (1985), and ‘Dragnet’ (1987)
    Uncredited script doctor on ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977), ‘The Deep’ (1977), ‘War Games’ (1983), ‘Gremlins’ (1984), and ‘Legal Eagles’ (1986)
    Directed the films ‘Dragnet’ (1987) and ‘Delirious’ (1991)
    Co-wrote and directed the pilot episode of Hart to Hart

Why he might be annoying:

    He had his first alcoholic drink at age eleven, with Humphrey Bogart on the set of his father’s film ‘The Barefoot Contessa.’
    Yaphet Kotto called his script for ‘Live and Let Die’ ‘[a] sea of stereotype crap … that had nothing to do with the black experience or culture.’
    The Writers Guild of America protested when his credit on ‘Superman’ as ‘Creative Consultant’ (basically, a fancy way of saying ‘script doctor’) was placed after the credit for the original screenwriters, claiming that it made his contribution look more important than theirs. In the end, his credit remained where it was, but on the sequel he was credited before the writers.
    He admitted, ‘I think Dad is probably disappointed that I have not worked up to what he considers to be, and I must say I consider to be, my creative potential.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    In his first writing credit (for an episode of ‘Bob Hope Presents Chrysler Theater’) he was billed as Thomas F. Mankiewicz. He felt it looked pretentious on screen, so he went by ‘Tom’ for the rest of his career.
    He said about being a script doctor, ‘It's one of the few times when the writer has a certain control over a film, because you're coming in when the people on the film are at their most insecure.’
    Peter Falk had Universal Studios hire him to review the scripts for <19074>Columbo<19074> and make plot suggestions.
    He was Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association.
    ’Superman’ director Richard Donner called him ‘one of the great storytellers of our industry.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying