John Byrum is an American film director and writer known forThe Razor's Edge,Heart Beat,Duets andInserts.^[2]

Raised inWinnetka,Illinois, on the North Shore ofChicago, Byrum attendedNew Trier High School, and later studied atNew York University in the late 1960s. His instructors includedHaig P. Manoogian and graduate studentMartin Scorsese, and classmatesOliver Stone and Eric Jenkins. At NYU, he co-wroteItem 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon with directorEdward Summer.

As a student, Byrum interned withJim Henson on early appearances ofThe Muppets and was later hired by Henson as one of the original writers ofSesame Street. Henson took a special interest in Byrum's talent, and hired him to write freelance projects. Byrum left New York for Hollywood after Byrum's original scriptInserts received positive reaction, and he was tapped to write the scriptHarry and Walter Go to New York by producers and mentorsDon Devlin,Tony Bill, and Harry Gittes.

After that script was sold for a record-breaking amount, Byrum was hired to write theDiana Ross vehicleMahogany. He passed on the chance to write the script forJaws to work onMahogany with one of his idols, directorTony Richardson, only to have Richardson leave the film mid-production after clashing with producerBerry Gordy of Motown fame. Berry took over directing chores, and the true drama ofMahogany was said to be the behind-the-camera relationship between Gordy and Ross.^[3]

Byrum directed his first feature filmInserts with starsRichard Dreyfuss,Jessica Harper,Veronica Cartwright,Stephen Davies, andBob Hoskins. Byrum did uncredited work on the script forValentino becauseKen Russell wanted an American co-writer.^[4]

Byrum followed soon after as writer/director ofHeart Beat, starringNick Nolte,John Heard, andSissy Spacek, asNeal Cassady,Jack Kerouac, andCarolyn Cassady, respectively. On this film, Byrum started his long collaborative relationship and friendship with composerJack Nitzsche.^[5]

Byrum teamed withMahogany producerRob Cohen, which resultedScandalous andThe Razor's Edge, the 1984 film directed by Byrum based on theW. Somerset Maugham novel starringBill Murray in his first dramatic role as Larry Darrell, and co-starringCatherine Hicks,Theresa Russell,Denholm Elliott, andJames Keach. Byrum and Murray co-wrote the screenplay. The film faltered with critics and audiences, as most were not ready to accept Murray in a noncomedic role. In later years, the film achieved cult status and many fans have traveled to its international locations, to replicate Larry's spiritual journey.

Following the box-office failure ofThe Razor's Edge, financially strapped Byrum directed the goofy comedyThe Whoopee Boys starringMichael O'Keefe andPaul Rodriguez. He was the original director of the TV movieDesperado (1987), but left the project during filming.^[6]

Byrum created, wrote, and produced several television series, includingMiddle Ages starringPeter Riegert,Michael O'Keefe,Amy Brenneman, andWilliam Russ, about a group of friends attempting to deal with the onset of their 40s on the North Shore of Chicago;South of Sunset starringGlenn Frey ofThe Eagles fame, as an unconventional Los Angeles detective; andWinnetka Road starringJosh Brolin,Meg Tilly,Paige Turco, andEd Begley, Jr., again, dealing with life on Chicago's North Shore.^[7] Byrum's television movieMurder in High Places starredTed Levine as aHunter Thompson-like character who is elected mayor of a Colorado ski resort, which showcased a youngLisa Kudrow in one of her first acting roles.

Byrum was scheduled to direct his original script of karaoke road-trip dramedyDuets when he was felled by a serious case ofLyme disease that had gone long undiagnosed. Byrum's friendBruce Paltrow wanted to directDuets with his daughterGwyneth Paltrow as one of the six ensemble characters.Brad Pitt was attached to co-star with Paltrow, his fiancée at the time, but when their engagement ended, the film's financing faltered once again.Duets was filmed several years later withScott Speedman in the role originally chosen by Pitt, along withPaul Giamatti,Maria Bello,Andre Braugher, andHuey Lewis.

John Byrum married actressLinda Fiorentino on June 23, 1992. Byrum and Fiorentino worked together on the movieThe War at Home,^[8] which began filming April 15, 1988; the two were in a relationship at that point. Byrum wrote the script, which was loosely based on the life of model and actressEdie Sedgwick; however, the film was never completed. The couple divorced in 1993, after a year of marriage, for reasons not known. In 1997, Byrum married his current wife, American screenwriter Karin Reznack.

Film

TV series

TV movies

• John Byrum atIMDb

• American male screenwriters
• 1947 births
• Living people
• People from Winnetka, Illinois
• People from Redding, Connecticut
• Film directors from Illinois
• Film directors from Connecticut
• Screenwriters from Illinois
• Screenwriters from Connecticut
• New Trier High School alumni
• New York University alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards