Lewis Minor Carson (August 12, 1941 – October 20, 2014) was an American actor,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and film producer.

Career

Carson first gained the notice of the film world when he starred in

Jim McBride Jim McBride (born September 16, 1941) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Legacy Richard Brody, writing for ''The New Yorker'', named McBride as one of the twelve greatest living narrative filmmakers, citing ''David Holzman's D ...

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

David Holzman's Diary ''David Holzman's Diary'' is a 1967 American mockumentary, or work of metacinema, directed by Jim McBride, James McBride and starring L. M. Kit Carson. A feature-length film made on a tiny budget over several days, it is a work of experimental fic ...

'' in 1967 as the title character, a man so obsessed with filmmaking that he allows his obsession to take over his life and ruin his relationships. The two teamed up again in the early 1980s, sharing screenplay credits for the 1983 remake of '' Breathless''; this starred

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...

and

Valérie Kaprisky Valérie Kaprisky ( Chérès; born 19 August 1962) is a French actress. Life and career She was born Valerie Chérès on 19 August 1962 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Kaprisky is her Polish mother's maiden name. She is of Greek-Ottoman and Argentine de ...

. Kit Carson's break-out accomplishment was co-writing, with

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

, the screenplay for the 1984 film ''

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

'', which featured his son

Hunter Carson Hunter Carson (born December 26, 1975) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer and director. In 1986, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his performance in '' Paris, Texas'' (1984). Early life Carson was born in Culver City, Cal ...

in his film debut. Kit Carson also penned the screenplay for the 1986

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (also known as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2'') is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film co-composed and directed by Tobe Hooper, and written by L. M. Kit Carson. It is the sequel to ''The Texas Cha ...

''.

Personal life and death

Carson had a son, actor Hunter Carson, with his former wife

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portr ...

, to whom he was married from 1975 until 1983. L. M. Kit Carson died in his sleep of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on October 20, 2014, in his native

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, aged 73.

Filmography

Films

*''

'' (1967) - actor *'' The American Dreamer'' (with

Lawrence Schiller Lawrence Julian Schiller (born December 28, 1936) is an American photojournalist, film producer, director and screenwriter. Career Schiller was born in 1936 in Brooklyn to Jewish parents and grew up outside of San Diego, California. After attend ...

) (1971) - director *'' Breathless'' (1983) - writer *''

'' (1984) - writer *''

'' (1986) - writer *'' Running on Empty'' (1988) - actor *''

Hurricane Streets ''Hurricane Streets'' (also known as ''Hurricane'') is a 1997 American coming-of-age drama film directed and written by Morgan J. Freeman in his feature directorial debut. It stars Brendan Sexton III, Shawn Elliot, L. M. Kit Carson, and Edie F ...

'' (1997) - actor *''

Bullfighter A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

'' (2000) - writer, producer *'' CQ'' (2001) - actor *''

Perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

'' (2001) - writer, producer

Television

*''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' - Season 5 Episode 13, "The Cell Within" - actor

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, L.M. Kit 1941 births 2014 deaths American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors Deaths from pneumonia in Texas Film producers from Texas Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni Male actors from Dallas Screenwriters from Texas University of Dallas alumni