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Jim Abrahams, ‘Airplane!,’ ‘Naked Gun’ and ‘Hot Shots!’ Master of Mirth, Dies at 80

He and boyhood friends Jerry and David Zucker got their start with 'The Kentucky Fried Movie,' and they also were behind 'Top Secret!' and 'Ruthless People.'

(1957), a black-and-white melodrama co-written by Arthur Hailey about a troubled World War II pilot (Dana Andrews) who has to overcome his fear of flying when the crew of the commercial plane he’s on falls ill (from eating bad fish!) Abrahams’ friendship with the Zucker brothers dated to their childhood years; their fathers were business colleagues, the families attended the same synagogue, and the boys all went to Shorewood High School and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The Kentucky Fried Movie hit theaters with a lineup of sketches that included the film parodies “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble,” “Cleopatra Schwartz” and “A Fistful of Yen” and spoofs of commercials for Household Odors and the United Appeal for the Dead.

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