James Frederick Thurman (March 13, 1935 – April 14, 2007) was an American actor, writer, director, cartoonist, and producer. He is best known for the writings of TV gags for the likes of

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

, and Dean Martin.

Career

Born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

but raised in Vicksburg,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, Thurman received a degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He began his career as a copywriter at various advertising agencies in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Later he moved to

with his writing partner Gene Moss, where they formed a boutique advertising agency, "Creative Advertising Stuff". Moss and Thurman scripted all 156 installments of the 1965 cartoon series ''

Roger Ramjet ''Roger Ramjet'' is a 1965–1969 American animated television series, starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron. The show was known for its simple animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to pop culture which appealed to a ...

'' as well as the puppet comedy series ''Shrimpenstein'', where Thurman voiced the title character for satirical children's television program. In 1967 Thurman teamed up with

to begin writing gags for ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Har ...

'', scripting running gags and writing whole scenes. In 1969, Thurman joined the writing team for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', scripting both street and Muppet scenes as well as producing many animated sketches. He also played Digby Dropout's sidekick "Dunce" in ''The Man from Alphabet'', a detective show which appeared in ''Sesame Street''s pilots but was not used in the actual series due to poor testing results. In 1972, Thurman teamed up with

to begin writing gags for ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a p ...

'', scripting both therapy and regular scenes. One year later in 1973 Thurman did the voice of Christopher Clumsy for a Cliff Roberts-produced cartoon about shapes as well as Jake the Snake in 1988 (also for ''Sesame Street''). In 1977 Jim worked as a consultant for Warner Cable's innovation Qube system in Columbus, Ohio. He was on the creative team for the interactive "Columbus Alive" news magazine program. In 1982, Thurman teamed up with Paul Fierlinger to create, write, and voice '' Teeny Little Super Guy'' for ''Sesame Street''. He also wrote sketches for

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

's ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...

'' in the fourth season. Thurman subsequently worked on most of CTW's other series, as a staff writer and cartoon voiceover on ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'' and '' 3-2-1 Contact'', ''

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' is an American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert and himself. Film ...

'', and as head writer/senior producer for ''

Square One TV ''Square One Television'' (sometimes referred to as ''Square One'' or ''Square One TV'') is an American children's television program produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop) to teach mathematics and abstract ...

''; on the later series, he provided the voice of Mr. Glitch and the off-screen announcer for ''

Mathman ''Square One Television'' (sometimes referred to as ''Square One'' or ''Square One TV'') is an American children's television program produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop) to teach mathematics and abstract ...

'', scripted the ''

Mathnet ''Mathnet'' is a segment on the children's television show ''Square One Television'' that follows the adventures of pairs of police mathematicians. It is a pastiche of '' Dragnet''. Premise ''Mathnet'' is a pastiche of '' Dragnet'', in which t ...

'' segments, and '' Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade''. Thurman co-created the ''Math Talk'' package with Dave Connell, as senior producer. Thurman also wrote for '' Muppet Babies''. In recent years Jim continued to write, do voice work, and also wrote a weekly column for his local paper, the Berkshire Record. Thurman also wrote and voiced several animated sexual education specials for Buzzco Associates, Inc. He has also done voice work for home video releases such as the

Richard Scarry Richard McClure Scarry (June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his ''Best Ever'' book series that take ...

Learning videos and the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video series. In 1994-95, Thurman voiced the worm and wrote a few Dr. Seuss stories in ''

Playtoons ''Playtoons'' is a series of linked games, released in 1994, which allow players to make their own animations using a variety of characters, backgrounds, scenery and props from either a single game or a mixture from the full series. The games are ...

'' series. In 2006, he wrote wraparound material and voiced Bob for the ''Old School Volume 1'' DVD. Also in 2006, he wrote ''Books by You''. In 2007, he last voiced ''SingStar POP Bundle'' on April 3 (so you can use your microphone). He died in Sheffield, Massachusetts after a brief illness on April 14, 2007, one month after his 72nd birthday.

Filmography

*''

'' (1965) (also writer) *''Shrimpenstein'' (1965) *''The Man from Alphabet'' (1969) *''Christopher Clumsy'' (1973) *'' Out to Lunch'' (1974) (also writer) *''The Jean Marsh Cartoon Special'' (1975) (also writer) *''A Walking Tour of Sesame Street'' (1979) (also writer) *'' Teeny Little Super Guy'' (1982) (also writer) *'' Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade'' (1987) (also writer) *''Jake the Snake'' (1988) *''The Quitter'' (1988) (also writer) *'' P. D. Eastman: Are You My Mother?'' (1991) (also writer) *''

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in th ...

'' (1993) (as the three baby monkeys in "Hey, Hey, They're the Monkeys!")

Television work

*''

'' (also writer 1969–2007) *''

'' (also writer 1971–1977) *''

'' (also writer 1972–1978) *''

'' (also writer 1972–1984) *''

'' (also writer 1976–1981) *'' 3-2-1 Contact'' (also writer 1980–1988) *'' Muppet Babies'' (also writer 1984–1991) *''

'' (also writer 1987–1992) *''

Turkey Television ''Turkey Television'' is a Canadian teen sketch comedy originally aired on Nickelodeon. The show was created by Roger Price and Geraldine Laybourne at the request of Nickelodeon in response to the popularity of ''You Can't Do That on Television ...

'' (voice actor 1985-1986)

Home video work

*'' Best ABC Video Ever!'' (1989) *'' Best Counting Video Ever!'' (1989) *'' Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video'' (1989-1997) *''Sing Yourself Silly!'' (1990)

Video game work

*''

'' (series) (1994–1995) *''Books by You'' (2006)

References

External links

Variety.com: Jim Thurman, 72, TV writer
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurman, Jim 1935 births 2007 deaths American television writers American male television writers University of Michigan alumni Writers from Dallas People from Vicksburg, Michigan Screenwriters from Texas Screenwriters from Michigan 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers