Jim Abrahams on AllMovie

Jim Abrahams grew up in Milwaukee, where his father was a partner in a real estate business with the father of Jerry and David Zucker; Abrahams and the Zuckers grew up together and influenced each other's tastes in film and TV. When Abrahams was 26 he hooked up again with the Zuckers, and they founded the comedic Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, the site of a large, progressive university; the show was a multimedia work combining live improvisational sketches with filmed satirical pieces. They moved to Los Angeles and entered movies when filmmaker John Landis spotlighted them in Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), a hit on the college and late-night cinema circuit. Having learned the rudiments of filmmaking while watching Landis, three years later they produced, directed, and wrote the disaster movie send-up Airplane! (1980); with only a $3.5 million budget, the film grossed almost $80 million. They went on from there to make other films in the vein of Airplane!, including the Top Gun parody Hot Shots (1991) and Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993). Each also did independent work. Abrahams first solo directing effort was Big Business (1988).