David Zucker
Zucker in 2016
Born	David Samuel Zucker (1947-10-16)October 16, 1947 (age 78) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupations	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Danielle Ardolino ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2019)​
Children	2
Family	Jerry Zucker (brother)

David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American filmmaker. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized for collaborating withJim Abrahams and his brotherJerry as part ofZucker, Abrahams and Zucker, with whom he wrote and directed the 1980 filmAirplane! and createdThe Naked Gun franchise. As a solo filmmaker, Zucker has also directedScary Movie 3 (2003) andScary Movie 4 (2006).

Zucker's movies includeThe Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977,Ruthless People in 1986,The Naked Gun in 1988,The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991,BASEketball in 1998,Scary Movie 3 in 2003, and its sequelScary Movie 4 in 2006. Of 18 works with which he is associated,Phone Booth, which he produced in 2002 is the only non-comedic film.

He co-directed several films includingAirplane! in 1980 andTop Secret! in 1984; along with his brother, Jerry, andJim Abrahams, the trio make up theZAZ team of directors. He has worked withPat Proft (with whom he first teamed up on theNaked Gun showPolice Squad!) andCraig Mazin (writer of three of the fiveScary Movies). In 1987, both David and Jerry Zucker through Zucker Brothers Productions signed an agreement withParamount Pictures for a two-year non-exclusive production agreement and development deal with the studio, and the brothers had anticipated on making four comedies forParamount Pictures during the life of the pact. The first film was a feature film version of the early 1980s television showPolice Squad!, which was originally cancelled after six episodes on the air.^[1]

ZAZ and Proft helped develop the parody genre of films, in which jokes are spit out with rapid-fire, using puns, physical humor, wit, and double entendres. Some of the veteran actors of ZAZ's vision of parody includeLeslie Nielsen,Lloyd Bridges,Charlie Sheen,Julie Hagerty, andAnna Faris (Faris starred in four of theScary Movie series).

Looking back on his career in 2009, Leslie Nielsen said the best film he appeared in wasThe Naked Gun, and that David was his favorite director to work with. Nielsen said of him, "He came to me one time and said, 'Leslie, I'll never make you do anything that is not funny.' ... he kept his word."^[2] Most consider his greatest work to beAirplane!, which has brought on many accolades (including preservation in theNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress).

In his movies, his mother, Charlotte often made cameos (like the lady trying to put on make-up inAirplane! and Vincent Ludwig's secretary, Dominique, inThe Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!).

David Zucker is an aficionado ofDavy Crockett and collects memorabilia. He has said that his dream project is to make a biographical film, which he has spent time developing.^[3][4] During the 1990s he regularly hosted a Davy Crockett Rifle Frolic at his ranch inOjai, California.^[5][4] Zucker wrote 11 updated verses to the song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett", which he claimed in 1992 that he had worked harder on than on any of his scripts.^[5] He made a cameo appearance inThe Naked Gun 2½ dressed as Crockett.^[3]

Zucker began to focus more on politics starting in 2004 when he began working on political ads for theRepublican Party.^[6] In 2008, he made the political parody movieAn American Carol.^[7] In 2015, he made a video he calledSide Effects attacking PresidentBarack Obama for theIran nuclear deal in the form of a parody prescription drug ad.^[8] In 2017, Zucker said that he was working on a script for a fourthNaked Gun film withPat Proft. In 2018 he made a cameo appearance on the hidden camera TV seriesImpractical Jokers, where he was onFaceTime with cast memberJames Murray in a sketch trying to make the other person laugh.^[9]

In 2021, Zucker announced his return to filmmaking with a new spoof film titledThe Star of Malta.^[10]

Zucker was born to aJewish family^[11] inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, the son ofCharlotte Zucker and Burton C. Zucker, who was areal estate developer.^[12][13] He graduated fromShorewood High School.^[14] In 1997, David married Danielle Zucker, with whom he has two children, Charles and Sarah.^[15] He and Danielle were divorced in 2019, although they had been separated for ten years before that.^[16] His younger brother,Jerry, is his filmmaking partner. The Zucker brothers have a sister, Susan Breslau, who along with their parents has had numerous appearances in their films. When asked in a September 2014 interview by theBBC if he believes in God, David replied:

Oh yeah, I believe in God. I think there's much more evidence that there is a God than that there isn't. I don't believe thatMother Teresa andHitler go to the same place. I believe in justice, maybe not in this life, but there has to be justice. And if there isn't a God, I think it would be very depressing. I'd prefer to believe there is.^[17]

David Zucker has been an active supporter ofTreePeople since 1988 and is now the longest continuously serving board member (1990) in the organization's history.^[18]

He has been an advocate ofsolar-powered andelectric cars since the '90s. "I can't complain about the smog in Los Angeles if I'm contributing to it," Zucker said to theSun Sentinel in 1990.^[19]

Among all of his directed and/or produced parody films, Zucker had frequently cast the lateLeslie Nielsen.

Actor	Airplane!	Ruthless People	Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!	The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear	BASEketball	My Boss' Daughter	Scary Movie 3	Scary Movie 4	An American Carol	Scary Movie 5
Anthony Anderson							N	N
Carmen Electra						N		N
Anna Faris							N	N
Regina Hall							N	N
Kevin Hart							N	N
George Kennedy			N	N
Michael Madsen						N		N
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	N				N
Robert Stack	N				N
Jenny McCarthy					N		N
Edward Moss							N	N
Leslie Nielsen	N		N	N			N	N	N
Priscilla Presley			N	N
Bill Pullman		N						N
Simon Rex							N	N	N	N
Molly Shannon						N		N		N
Charlie Sheen							N	N		N
O. J. Simpson			N	N
Ed Williams			N	N

Acting roles

Other credits

Other works

Acting roles

• "Spend This Night With Me" (performed byVal Kilmer inTop Secret!, 1984)
• "I Guess I'm Just Screwed" (performed byColleen Fitzpatrick inThe Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, 1991)
• "It's Your Birthday" (performed by more actors inHigh School High, 1996)
  

• David Zucker atIMDb
• David Zucker atDiscogs
• GreenCine interview
• Jewish Journal interviewArchived July 13, 2012, at theWayback Machine
• Weekly Standard interview

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