Background
Lakso was born on September 20, 1932 in San Francisco. His mother married Wayne Jalo Lakso in 1936, and Lakso began to legally use the surname shortly after that.
director screenwriter songwriter
Lakso was born on September 20, 1932 in San Francisco. His mother married Wayne Jalo Lakso in 1936, and Lakso began to legally use the surname shortly after that.
Lakso graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in music
Lakso"s parents divorced when he was four years old. While there he was recruited to write his first screenplay, "Operation Dames" a Korean war drama about a United Service Organizations troop trapped behind enemy lines. One actor did not show up the first day of shooting in Topanga Canyon so the director put Lakso in the role.
Subsequently he wrote two songs that were incorporated into the movie.
Lakso co-wrote and scored The Immoral Mr. Teas, an early film by Russian Meyer, and scripted several other films, including The Broken Land the screen debut for Jack Nicholson, (1962), Gentle Giant (1967), and the blaxploitation film Brother on the Run (1973), which he co-directed with Herbert Stock.
Lakso is best known for his television work, writing "Combat!",Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Charlie"s Angels, " The Rockford Files, "Name of the Game","Starsky and Hutch, Airwolf, The Fall Guy, and Hawaii Five-O. He also composed music for Charlie"s Angels and Doctor Kildare. Lakso also wrote, produced and/or directed several musicals.
"Tom Piper", for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, "Watergate, the Musical" written and produced with Tommy Oliver at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta Georgia.
And "Vincent, the Musical" staged at the Las Palmas theater in Hollywood. They had 2 children. In 1985, Lakso married writer-actress Lee Travis.
They had no children. She remained with him until his death.
Lakso died from complications of Parkinson"s disease on May 23, 2009 at home in Beverly Hills.