Tom Lazarus (born 1942) is an American

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 and producer. He is best known for writing the 1999 horror film ''

Stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

'', and is the author of the

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...

manuals, ''Secrets of Film Writing'' (2001, Griffin) and ''The Last Word: Definitive Answers to All Your Screenwriting Questions'' (2012, Michael Wiese Productions). He has won more than two dozen international film festival honors including Best Educational Film of the Year at the San Francisco Film Festival and a nomination for a CLIO for directing a Fair House Public Service TV spot.

Life

Lazarus was born in New York City on October 5, 1942. He began working in advertising for major film studios. He also designed album covers, was nominated for a Grammy, then moved into creating educational and business films. This led to a television and film career, where he has written and produced many shows since the 1970s, including ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

'', '' War of The Worlds'' and ''

Freddy's Nightmares ''Freddy's Nightmares'' (also known as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series'') is an American horror anthology television series that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988 until March 12, 1990. A spin-off from the ''A Nightmare on Elm ...

''. In 1999, he wrote ''Stigmata'', starring

Patricia Arquette Patricia Arquette (; born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) and has since received several awards, including an Academy Award, two P ...

as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

who is afflicted with the

stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

after acquiring a

rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

owned by a deceased priest. Directed by

Rupert Wainwright Rupert Wainwright is an English film director, film and television director, with credits including ''Blank Check (film), Blank Check'' (1994), ''The Sadness of Sex'' (1995) and ''Stigmata (film), Stigmata'' (1999). He is also a music video prod ...

on a $29 million budget, it premièred at the box office in the #1 position, earning $18.3 million in its first weekend, and becoming the first film in five weekends to outgross ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released ...

'' at the box office. It earned $50,046,268 in the U.S. and $39,400,000 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $89,446,268. Lazarus teaches at UCLA Extension, Writers Program.

Filmography

*''The American Dream'' (1976) *'' The President's Mistress'' (TV Movie) (1978) *'' Survival of Dana'' (TV Movie) (1979) *'' Just You and Me, Kid'' (1979) *''The Ordeal of Bill Carney'' (TV Movie) (1981) *''Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family'' (TV Movie) (1982) *''Hear No Evil'' (TV Movie) (1982) *''

Mazes and Monsters ''Mazes and Monsters'', also known as ''Rona Jaffe's Mazes and Monsters'', is a 1982 American made-for-television film directed by Steven Hilliard Stern about a group of college students and their interest in a fictitious role-playing game (R ...

'' (TV Movie) (1982) *''The Awakening of Candra'' (TV Movie) (1983) *''Centerfold'' (1996) *''

'' (1999)

References

External links

Official Site
* 1942 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American designers 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American designers 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American screenwriters American album-cover and concert-poster artists American advertising people American information and reference writers American instructional writers American male non-fiction writers American male television writers American television writers American television directors Designers from New York City Film directors from New York City Screenwriters from New York City Screenwriting instructors Television producers from New York City Writers of books about writing fiction {{US-screen-writer-1940s-stub