American television writer (1952?2015)
Chris Thompson
|
---|
Born
| 1952
|
---|
Died
| (aged 63)
|
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Occupation(s)
| Television writer, producer
|
---|
Years active
| 1977?2015
|
---|
Spouse(s)
| Lyndall Hobbs
(divorced)
Tracy Bjork
(
m.
1990;
div.
2003)
Curran Sympson Thompson
(
m.
2008)
|
---|
Children
| 3
|
---|
Chris Thompson
(1952 ? June 26, 2015) was an American television writer and producer. Beginning in 1977, he wrote and produced for the television series
Laverne & Shirley
and
The Larry Sanders Show
. He had also created, written and produced
Bosom Buddies
,
The Naked Truth
,
Action
,
Ladies Man
and the
Disney Channel
original series,
Shake It Up
, as well co-written the feature films
Jumpin' Jack Flash
and
Back to the Beach
.
Career
[
edit
]
Born Christopher Thompson, he began his career at the age of 23, when he was approached by a producer who was impressed by his
improv
performance at the Off The Wall theater in Los Angeles.
[1]
Thompson thought this was his big acting break, but it was really the start of his prolific writing and producing career (the producer offered him an apprentice writing position on the series
Sirota's Court
).
[1]
[2]
Soon after, he was introduced to producer
Garry Marshall
and worked as a writer on
Blansky's Beauties
starring
Nancy Walker
and
Scott Baio
, followed by
Laverne & Shirley
, where he worked as a writer, and later as an executive producer, for seven years.
[1]
[2]
Thompson went on to create the buddy comedy
Bosom Buddies
for
Paramount Studios
.
[1]
[2]
His other writing and producing credits include
The Naked Truth
,
Action
,
Ladies Man
,
The Larry Sanders Show
,
House Rules
,
Hard Knocks
and over 30 pilots for various networks and studios.
[1]
[2]
His feature film writing credits include
Jumpin' Jack Flash
, and
Back to the Beach
.
[1]
[2]
In 2010, Thompson created and executive produced the
Disney Channel
dance-driven sitcom
Shake It Up
[1]
[2]
[3]
He left the series after the first season leaving
Rob Lotterstein
as showrunner.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Thompson was born in
Detroit
,
Michigan
and raised in
Los Angeles
.
[1]
During the early 1980s, Thompson was married to director
Lyndall Hobbs
; they had one daughter, Lola Rose Thompson.
[4]
Thompson married Tracy Bjork in 1990, and they have two children, Taylor and Richard. They were married for thirteen years.
[1]
Thompson married Curran Sympson in 2008.
Thompson died in actor
Tim Curry
's home on June 26, 2015, in
Toluca Lake, Los Angeles
after a long illness.
[5]
[6]
His death provoked a slew of messages from stars he had worked with, among them
Bella Thorne
who said Thompson had been "like a father to her at an early age." He lived with his wife of seven years, Curran Sympson Thompson, with their dog Roscoe and cat Ichi; she survived him by four years, passing in 2019.
[5]
[6]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
"Shake It Up!: Chris Thompson, Creator & Executive Producer"
.
Disney Channel Medianet
. Archived from
the original
on March 18, 2012
. Retrieved
December 16,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"IMDb: Chris Thompson"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
December 16,
2010
.
- ^
"Dance-Driven Sitcom 'Shake It Up' Premieres Sunday November 7 on Disney Channel"
. TV By the Numbers. October 7, 2010. Archived from
the original
on December 31, 2015
. Retrieved
October 8,
2010
.
- ^
In Her Father's Eyes
,
ABC
.net
- ^
a
b
Littleton, Cynthia (June 27, 2015).
"Veteran Comedy Writer Chris Thompson Dies On Eve Of Comeback Bid"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
June 28,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Chris Thompson Dies: Writer-Producer Created 'Shake It Up!', Worked On 'Laverne & Shirley'
"
. Deadline.com. June 27, 2015
. Retrieved
June 27,
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]