 |
 | This biography of a living person includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(August 2010) |
Ernest Thompson | |
|---|---|
 (2015) | |
| Born | November 6, 1949 |
Ernest Thompson (born Richard Ernest Thompson; November 6, 1949) is an American writer, actor, and director. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for On Golden Pond , an adaptation of his own play of the same name.
Thompson was born as Richard Ernest Thompson in Bellows Falls, Vermont, to parents Theron and Esther Thompson. [1] He spent his early years in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, moving to Maryland as a junior high school student. He attended the University of Maryland and the Catholic University of America, before ultimately graduating cum laude from American University in 1971.
Thompson is best known as the author of the play On Golden Pond , which he wrote at the age of 28. The play opened off-Broadway in 1978, starring Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen. A great success at the Kennedy Center, it opened at the New Apollo Theater on Broadway February 28, 1979. Revived the following season at the Century Theatre, On Golden Pond ran for more than 400 performances. It became a hit 1981 film, starring Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1981 as well as awards from the Golden Globes and the Writers Guild of America.
The West Side Waltz , Thompson's second popular play, opened on Broadway, starring Katharine Hepburn on November 19, 1981. Thompson is quoted as saying that The West Side Waltz came about after a telephone call he received on behalf of screenwriter George Seaton, creator of movies such as Miracle on 34th Street , offering Thompson "the only George Seaton grant" to write a new play for the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Thompson wrote and directed a television version based on the play, premiering on Thanksgiving night 1995, starring Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli, Kathy Bates, and Jennifer Grey.
As an actor, Thompson's only Broadway appearance was as drifter Hal Carter in Summer Brave , William Inge's revised version of his play Picnic . He portrayed Ranger Matt Harper on NBC’s 1974 series Sierra and Dr. Phil Parker on ABC's Westside Medical . He appeared on the NBC soap opera Somerset as Tony Cooper, son of Rex and Laura Cooper, and in the television films The Rimers of Eldritch and F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Last of the Belles. Other acting credits include roles in the Bob Fosse movie Star 80 and Next Stop Wonderland , directed by Brad Anderson.
Thompson wrote the screenplay for the feature film Sweet Hearts Dance , directed by Robert Greenwald and starring Susan Sarandon and Don Johnson. He directed 1969 , starring Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Downey, Jr., and Winona Ryder.
During the 1990s, Thompson wrote the television film Take Me Home Again (released on DVD as The Lies Boys Tell) in 1994, based on the novel by Lamar Herrin, starring Kirk Douglas and Craig T. Nelson, in which Thompson also appeared. He directed and acted opposite Shirley MacLaine and Jennifer Grey in The West Side Waltz and co-wrote and directed the Emmy-nominated movie Out of Time, starring James McDaniel and Mel Harris.
In 2000, Thompson directed The Penis Responds, with Richard Gilliland, as a "lighthearted" answer to The Vagina Monologues . [2] In 2001, he directed his own live TV version of On Golden Pond , starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. His play White People Christmas played at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Thompson.
In 1991 his son August was born. In 1993, Thompson married Kristie Lanier at his home in New Hampshire, where he raised daughters Heather and Danielle. Thompson and Lanier later divorced. On Christmas Day in 2012, he married Kerrin (Rocha) Adrian.
Thompson lives most of the year in New Hampton, New Hampshire [3] (very close to where On Golden Pond was filmed). In 2008, Thompson co-founded Whitebridge Farm Productions with partners Morgan Murphy and Lori Gigliotti-Murphy. He wrote, directed and starred in the company's first two movies, Heavenly Angle and Time and Charges, both of which were primarily filmed in the Granite State and offered by Whitebridge Farm Productions.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image.
Henry Warren Beatty is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1999, the BAFTA Fellowship in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008.
On Golden Pond is a 1979 play by Ernest Thompson. The plot focuses on an aging couple Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend each summer at their home on a lake called Golden Pond. During the year the story takes place, they are visited by daughter Chelsea with her fiancé Billy Ray and his son Billy Ray Jr. The play explores the often turbulent relationship the young woman shared with her father growing up, and the difficulties faced by a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage.
Shirley MacLaine is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears. She has been honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014. MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
George Seaton was an American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theater director. Seaton led several industry organizations, serving as a three-time president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, president of the Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Directors Guild, and vice president of Motion Picture Relief Fund. He won two Academy Awards for his screenplays.
Keir Atwood Dullea is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and its 1984 sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact. His other film roles include David and Lisa (1962), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and Black Christmas (1974). Dullea studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He has also performed on stage in New York City and in regional theaters; he has said that, despite being more recognized for his film work, he prefers the stage.
Garson Kanin was an American writer and director of plays and films.
The West Side Waltz is a play by Ernest Thompson.
The Children's Hour is a 1961 American drama film produced and directed by William Wyler from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on the 1934 play of the same title by Lillian Hellman. The film stars Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, and James Garner, with Miriam Hopkins, Fay Bainter, and Karen Balkin.
Without Love is a 1945 romantic comedy film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Lucille Ball. Based on a 1942 play by Philip Barry, the film's screenplay was written by Donald Ogden Stewart.
Frank Daniel Gilroy was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film producer and director. He received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play The Subject Was Roses in 1965.
The Pleasure of His Company is a 1961 comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds and Tab Hunter directed by George Seaton and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.
On Golden Pond is a 1981 drama film directed by Mark Rydell from a screenplay written by Ernest Thompson, adapted from his 1979 play of the same name. It stars Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman and William Lanteau. In the film, Norman, a crusty, retired professor grappling with many effects of aging, has been married for many years to upbeat, feisty Ethel, and has had a remote, difficult relationship with their daughter, Chelsea. At their summer home on Golden Pond, Norman and Ethel agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and an unexpected relationship blooms.
On Golden Pond may refer to:
The French, They Are a Funny Race is a 1955 French comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, based on the 1954 novel Les Carnets du Major Thompson by Pierre Daninos, and starring Martine Carol and Jack Buchanan.
The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist.
Holiday is a 1928 play by Philip Barry which was twice adapted to film. The original play opened in New York on November 26, 1928, at the Plymouth Theatre and closed in June 1929, after 229 performances. It was directed by Arthur Hopkins, set design by Robert Edmond Jones, and costume design by Margaret Pemberton.
The Warrior's Husband is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Elissa Landi, David Manners, and Ernest Truex. It tells the story of the Amazons, who ruled over men thanks to the sacred girdle of Diana, and Hercules who came to steal it. The film is based on a 1932 Broadway production of Julian Thompson's 1924 play that starred Katharine Hepburn in the lead role.
The West Side Waltz is a 1995 television film written and directed by Ernest Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli, Jennifer Grey and Kathy Bates. It is based on Thompson's play of the same name, which starred Katharine Hepburn and Dorothy Loudon on Broadway.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
