Jim Abrahams, a frequent collaborator of Jerry and David Zucker and the writer-director of such films as Airplane!, Top Secret!, and Hot Shots!, died of natural causes at the age of 80, his son Joseph confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on November 26. Abrahams got his first break in the industry co-writing with the Zucker brothers, who were his childhood friends, the sketch-heavy The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977. The trio (who came to be dubbed “ZAZ”) went on to write and direct Airplane! in 1980, a disaster-movie spoof starring Leslie Nielsen that has cemented itself as an American comedy classic and armed dads near and far with one of the most quotable jokes in cinematic history. Abrahams worked with the Zuckers on Police Squad! (1982), Top Secret! (1984), Ruthless People (1986), and The Naked Gun (1988) before going on to direct Big Business (1988) and write and direct the Hot Shots! films in 1991 and 1993. Most recently, he was a writer on Scary Movie 4 in 2006.
Born to Louise and Norman Abrahams in Shorewood, Wisconsin, in 1944, Abrahams had an eye for absurdist comedy early in his career. With the Zuckers, he founded the Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison in 1971, where ZAZ perfected their brand of improv comedy and film parody. Abrahams had three children — Joseph, Jamie, and Charlie — with his wife Nancy, with whom he co-founded the Charlie Foundation to Help Cure Pediatric Epilepsy.
On Airplane!’s legacy, he said in a 2016 interview with Vulture, “It’s impossible for us to answer these kinds of questions seriously. The whole point is to not take things seriously.”