James L. Brooks
Biography
James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Brooks started his career as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the CBS News broadcasts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolper's documentaries. He wrote for My Mother the Car and My Friend Tony and created the series Room 222. Grant Tinker hired Brooks and producer Allan Burns at MTM Productions to create The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. Brooks and Burns then created two successful spin-offs from Mary Tyler Moore: Rhoda (a comedy) and Lou Grant (a drama). Brooks left MTM Productions in 1978 to co-create the sitcom Taxi (1978-1983).
Brooks moved into feature film work when he wrote and co-produced the 1979 film Starting Over. His next project was the critically acclaimed film Terms of Endearment, which he produced, directed and wrote, winning an Academy Award for all three roles. He earned acclaim for his films Broadcast News (1987) and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received mixed reviews for I'll Do Anything (1994), Spanglish (2004), and How Do You Know (2010). Brooks also produced Cameron Crowe's Say Anything... (1989) and Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket (1996).
Most directed genres
Recurring actors
The career in numbers
- US$ 353 mi Total budget from 7 film(s) with data
- US$ 599 mi Total box office from 6 film(s) with data
- US$ 50 mi Average budget from 7 film(s) with data
- US$ 100 mi Average box office from 6 film(s) with data
- 6.3 Average rating from 7 film(s) with data
- 1.9× Return on investment from 6 film(s) with data
Budget and box office do not exist for every film in our records. Averages are computed over the films that carry the figure, and the count beside each one says how many.
Films directed
| Film | Year | Budget | Box office | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ella McCay
|
2025 | US$ 35 mi | US$ 5 mi | 5.6 |
How Do You Know
|
2010 | US$ 120 mi | US$ 49 mi | 5.3 |
Spanglish
|
2004 | US$ 80 mi | US$ 55 mi | 6.1 |
As Good as It Gets
|
1997 | US$ 50 mi | US$ 314 mi | 7.4 |
I'll Do Anything
|
1994 | US$ 40 mi | — | 5.6 |
Broadcast News
|
1987 | US$ 20 mi | US$ 67 mi | 6.8 |
Terms of Endearment
|
1983 | US$ 8 mi | US$ 108 mi | 7.1 |
