Hampton Fancher

Last updated

Hampton Fancher
Hampton Fancher by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Fancher in 2017
Born
Hampton Lansden Fancher

(1938-07-18) July 18, 1938 (age 86)
East Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesMario Montejo
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • producer
  • actor
  • director
Known for Blade Runner
Blade Runner 2049
The Minus Man
Spouses
Joann McNabb
​
​
(m. 1957;div. 1963)​
​
​
(m. 1963;div. 1965)​
Awards Montreal Special Grand Prize of the Jury

Hampton Lansden Fancher (born July 18, 1938) [1] [2] is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, who co-wrote the 1982 neo-noir science fiction film Blade Runner and its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. His 1999 directorial debut, The Minus Man, won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival.[ citation needed ]

Contents

He lives in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City.[ citation needed ]

Early life

Fancher was born to a Mexican mother [3] and an English-American father, a physician, in East Los Angeles, California. [4] At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco dancer and renamed himself "Mario Montejo". Following the breakup of his marriage to Joann McNabb, he was married to Sue Lyon from 1963 to 1965. [5]

Career

In 1959, Fancher appeared in the episode "Misfits" of the ABC Western television series The Rebel . [6]

Fancher played Deputy Lon Gillis in seven episodes of the ABC Western Black Saddle with Peter Breck. He guest-starred on other Westerns: Have Gun, Will Travel , Tate , Stagecoach West , Outlaws , Maverick (in the fourth-season episode "Last Stop: Oblivion"), Lawman , Temple Houston , Cheyenne (1961 episode "Incident at Dawson Flats"), and also Bonanza (1966 episode "A Dollar's Worth of Trouble"). In 1967, Fancher guest-starred on Mannix in the episode “Turn Every Stone.” [7]

Fancher appeared in two Troy Donahue films, 1961's Parrish and 1962's Rome Adventure , and was cast as Larry Wilson in the 1963 episode "Little Richard" of the CBS anthology series GE True , hosted by Jack Webb. [8] In 1965, he played the role of Hamp Fisher in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Silent Six".

Fancher acted in more than 50 movies and television shows. During this time, he also had relationships with a variety of women, including Barbara Hershey and Teri Garr. Although he showed interest in screenwriting, it took until 1977 for Fancher to transition fully into it. He continues to act occasionally. [9]

After trying to option Philip K. Dick's 1968 science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1975, and unable to secure the rights, Fancher sent his friend Brian Kelly, a prospective film producer, to negotiate with Dick. [10] Dick agreed, and Fancher was brought on to write a screenplay before Kelly would later enlist the support of producer Michael Deeley. [11] This made Fancher the executive producer, which led to disagreements with eventual director Ridley Scott, who then brought in David Peoples to continue reworking the script. Scott and Fancher had already clashed concerning the movie, as Scott felt the original script did not sufficiently explore the world of the movie, choosing instead to focus on the interior drama. Fancher's rewriting process was too slow for the production crew, which nicknamed him "Happen Faster". [12] The movie was ultimately filmed and released as Blade Runner (1982). [13]

Fancher wrote two films following Blade Runner. The Mighty Quinn (1989) starred Denzel Washington and The Minus Man (1999) starred Owen Wilson. Fancher also directed the latter. [14] More recently, he wrote the story and co-wrote, with Michael Green, the screenplay for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), a sequel to the 1982 film.

In the early 1980s, Fancher lived outside of Los Angeles in Topanga Canyon.[ citation needed ] Fancher appeared in a cameo role in the independent film Tonight at Noon (2009), directed by Michael Almereyda and starring Rutger Hauer.

In 2019, Fancher published The Wall Will Tell You, a screenwriting manual which drew from his personal experiences. [15]

Fancher provided voiceover commentary for The Criterion Collection edition DVD extras of the film noir adaptations of Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers", which included the 1946, 1956 and 1964 versions.

Fancher's life was the subject of Escapes, a documentary directed by Michael Almereyda and executive-produced by Wes Anderson. [2]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1958 The Brain Eaters Zombie (uncredited)
1961 Parrish Edgar Raike
1962 Rome Adventure Albert Stillwell
1965 The Incredible Sex Revolution Harold Morton
1970Mir hat es immer Spaß gemachtGino
1975 The Other Side of the Mountain Lee Zadroga
1976 Survive! Hampton
1982 Blade Runner Writer and executive producer
1989 The Mighty Quinn Writer
1999 The Minus Man Director and writer
2005Men's LeagueUnknown cameoShort film
2009Tonight at NoonHimself Cameo appearance
2010Hands & EyesThe Art CriticShort film
2017 2036: Nexus Dawn Writer; short films
2048: Nowhere to Run
Blade Runner 2049 Writer

Television

Year(s)TitleRole(s)Notes
1958-1960 Have Gun - Will Travel Ben Dawes / Beau Crommer / Keith Loring3 episodes
1959 Zane Grey Theater LincEpisode ''Deadfall''
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Tim PlunkettEpisode ''The Burning Girl''
The D.A.'s Man Danny WilderEpisode ''Out of Town''
The Lineup RiversEpisode ''Wake Up to Terror''
Law of the Plainsman HarverEpisode ''A Matter of Life and Death''
The Rebel BullEpisode ''Misfits''
1959-1960 Black Saddle Orv Tibbett / Deputy Gillis / Lon Gillis7 episodes
1959-1965 Gunsmoke Gunman / Dunc Hedgepeth / Clem / Milton Clum4 episodes
1960 The Detectives FrankieEpisode ''Time and Tide''
Father Knows Best Rudy KisslerEpisode ''Blind Date''
Tate ColeyEpisode ''Quiet After the Storm''
Outlaws Mike DuaneEpisode ''Shorty''
1961 Cheyenne Jasper DawsonEpisode ''Incident at Dawson Flats''
The Best of the Post UrknownEpisode ''Frontier Correspondent''
Stagecoach West AdamEpisode ''Not in Our Stars''
Maverick Tate McKennaEpisode ''Last Stop: Oblivion''
Lawman Lester BeasonEpisode ''Conditional Surrender''
The Rifleman Corey HazlittEpisode ''The Decision''
1962-1964 Rawhide Billy Hobson / Jake Hammerklein3 episodes
1963 GE True Larry WilsonEpisode ''Little Richard''
Temple Houston Jim StockerEpisode ''The Third Bullet''
Death Valley Days Ned MurphyEpisode ''The Red Ghost of Eagle Creek''
1963-1964 77 Sunset Strip Len / Chuck Gates Jr.2 episodes
1964 The Great Adventure FlemingEpisode ''Rodger Young''
Arrest and Trial RaymondEpisode ''Somewhat Lower Than the Angels''
1965 Perry Mason Hamp FisherEpisode ''The Case of the Silent Six"
1966 The Fugitive HomerEpisode ''The 2130''
Bonanza Craig BonnerEpisode ''A Dollar's Worth of Trouble''
The Road West Gray YeaterEpisode ''Piece of Tin''
The Monroes Carl GoffEpisode ''Silent Night, Deadly Night''
1967 Daniel Boone Tad Arlen / Lieutenant Noland2 episodes
1967-1972 Mannix Cornwall Dover / Carl Loder (uncredited)2 episodes
1969Romeo und Julia '70Romeo Müller, TaxichauffeurMini-Series
2 episodes
1969-1972 Adam-12 Philip Bartell / Ray2 episodes
1973Of Men and WomenHimselfUnsold pilot
Segment ''The Interview''
1974 Get Christie Love! RodEpisode ''Get Christie Love!''
The Stranger Who Looks Like Me Adoptive Parent #3TV movie
1976SwitchJeff LoudenEpisode ''Pirates of Tin Pan Alley''
The Blue Knight Guss FerminEpisode ''Bull's Eye''
1977 Police Story Pike HarrimanEpisode ''One of Our Cops Is Crazy''
1978Last of the Good GuysOfficer George Talltree (uncredited)TV movie

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References

  1. ↑ Arn, Jackson (2019). "The Wall Will Tell You: The Forensics of Screenwriting". Cineaste. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Dargis, Manohla (July 25, 2017). "Review: 'Escapes' Recounts a Hollywood Storyteller's Inventive Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  3. ↑ Alhadeff, Gini (2009). "Hampton Fancher Pray for rain". bidoun.org. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ Gettingit.com: Life of a Hollywood Scribe Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Movies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Rebel". TVGuide.com. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Mannix". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ TV Guide. Triangle Publications. 1963. p. 27.
  9. ↑ Friend, Tad (August 21, 2017). "Hampton Fancher on the Edge of Fame". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  10. ↑ Epstein, Sonia (September 29, 2017). "Interview with Writer Hampton Fancher of Blade Runner". Sloan Science & Film. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ TURAN, KENNETH (September 13, 1992). "Blade Runner 2 : The Screenwriter Wrote Eight Drafts--and Then Was Replaced. On His First Day, The Director Turned The Set Upside Down. Harrison Ford Was Never So Miserable. Years Later, Someone Stumbled Over The Long-lost Original. Nothing About This Cult Classic Was Ever Simple". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  12. ↑ Schulman, Michael (September 14, 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ Maslin, Janet (June 25, 1982). "Futuristic 'Blade Runner'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  14. ↑ Kirschbaum, Susan M. (August 22, 1999). "A NIGHT OUT: With Wes Anderson; Dissecting Films And Serial Killers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Wall Will Tell You by Hampton Fancher: 9781612197616 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
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