Chris Thompson (1952 – June 26, 2015) was an American television writer and producer. Beginning in 1977, he wrote and produced for the television series ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'' and ''

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. Created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein, the show ran for six seasons and List of The Larry Sanders Show episodes, ...

''. He had also created, written and produced ''

Bosom Buddies ''Bosom Buddies'' is an American television sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari created by Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller and Chris Thompson. It aired on Thursday nights for two seasons on ABC from November 27, 1980, to March 2 ...

'', '' The Naked Truth'', ''

Action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

'', '' Ladies Man'' and the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

original series, '' Shake It Up'', as well co-written the feature films ''

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was seen as the band's retu ...

'' and ''

Back to the Beach ''Back to the Beach'' is a 1987 American comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903. It ...

''.

Career

Born Christopher Thompson, he began his career at the age of 23, when he was approached by a producer who was impressed by his

improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...

performance at the Off The Wall theater in Los Angeles. Thompson thought this was his big acting break, but it was really the start of his prolific writing and producing career (the producer offered him an apprentice writing position on the series ''Sirota's Court''). Soon after, he was introduced to producer

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' until he developed the T ...

and worked as a writer on ''

Blansky's Beauties ''Blansky's Beauties'' is an American sitcom television series and ostensible spin-off of ''Happy Days'' that aired on ABC from February 12 to June 27, 1977. The main character of the series was introduced on an episode of ''Happy Days'', then ...

'' starring

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer;Often mistranscribed as "Smoyer" May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''Th ...

and

Scott Baio Scott Vincent Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on the s ...

, followed by ''

'', where he worked as a writer, and later as an executive producer, for seven years. Thompson went on to create the buddy comedy ''

'' for

Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...

. His other writing and producing credits include '' The Naked Truth'', ''

'', '' Ladies Man'', ''

'', ''House Rules'', ''Hard Knocks'' and over 30 pilots for various networks and studios. His feature film writing credits include ''

'', and ''

''. In 2010, Thompson created and executive produced the

dance-driven sitcom '' Shake It Up'' He left the series after the first season leaving Rob Lotterstein as showrunner.

Personal life and death

Thompson was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 1986, Thompson married director

Lyndall Hobbs Lyndall Hobbs (born 1952) is an Australian film director and producer. Life and career Hobbs was born in Australia in 1952. She spent many years in the United Kingdom, during which time she directed the documentary film ''Steppin' Out'' (1979) ...

. Together they had one daughter, Lola Rose Thompson.''In Her Father's Eyes''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

.net They divorced in 1989. Thompson married Tracy Bjork in 1990, and they have two children, Taylor and Richard. They were married for thirteen years. Thompson married Curran Sympson in 2008. Thompson died in actor

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...

's home on June 26, 2015, in

Toluca Lake, Los Angeles Toluca Lake is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring ...

after a long illness. Following his death, Thompson was paid tribute from stars he had worked with, including

Bella Thorne Annabella Avery Thorne (born October 8, 1997) is an American actress, singer, and writer. She first received recognition for her roles as Margaux Darling in the series '' Dirty Sexy Money'' (2007–2008) and as Ruthy Spivey in the drama series ...

, who said that Thompson had been "like a father to her at an early age." He lived with his wife of seven years, Curran Sympson Thompson, with their dog Roscoe and cat Ichi. Curran died in 2019.

Filmography

*'' Sirota's Court'' (1976–1977) (TV) *''

'' (1977) (TV) *''

'' (1977–1979) (TV) *''

'' (1980–1982) (TV) *'' The President of Love'' (1984) (TV) *'' Slickers'' (1985) (TV) *''

'' (with

Charles Shyer Charles Richard Shyer (October 11, 1941 – December 27, 2024) was an American filmmaker. Shyer's films are mainly comedies, often with a romcom overtone. His writing-directing credits include '' Private Benjamin'' (1980), ''Irreconcilable Dif ...

Nancy Meyers Nancy Jane Meyers (born December 8, 1949) is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically, commercially successful films. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Private Benja ...

and David Franzoni) (1986) *'' Hard Knocks'' (1987) (TV) *''

'' (with Peter Krikes and Steve Meerson) (1987) *''

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

'' (1990) (TV) *'' Big Deals'' (1991) (TV) *''

'' (1992–1993) (TV) *''

Dave's World ''Dave's World'' is an American sitcom television series, created by Fred Barron, that aired on CBS from September 20, 1993, to June 27, 1997. The series is based on the writing of ''Miami Herald'' columnist Dave Barry. Plot The show focuses on ...

'' (1994) (TV) *'' The Naked Truth'' (1995–1997) (TV) *''

House Rules House rules are unofficial modifications to official game rules adopted by individual groups of players. House rules may include the removal or alteration of existing rules, or the addition of new rules. Such modifications are common in board ga ...

'' (1998) (TV) *''

'' (1999) (TV) *'' Ladies Man'' (1999) (TV) *'' Trash'' (2003) (TV) *'' Shake It Up'' (2010–2013) (TV)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Chris 1952 births 2015 deaths American male screenwriters American television directors Television producers from California Television writers from California American male television writers Writers from Detroit Writers from Los Angeles Screenwriters from Michigan