Background
Thomas Rickman was born on February 8, 1940 in Sharpe, Kentucky, United States as James Thomas Rickman.
1977
Tom Rickman, Squaw Valley Screenwriting Program
1981
Tom Rickman and Gill Dennis
2012
Bahcelievler Mah. Bahçelievler Cad. No:123 Turgutreis, 48960 Bodrum/Muğla, Turkey
Tom Rickman at the Screenwriters Lab at Sundance Resort
2021 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States
Thomas Rickman studied directing and screenwriting at the Center for Advanced Film Studies, American Film Institute (nowadays AFI Conservatory).
Tom Rickman
Tom meets with fellow Ryan Knighton.
Tom meets with fellows Logan Kibens and Sharon Greene.
The Writers Guild of America Award, that Thomas received for the film Tuesdays with Morrie (1999).
(Hollywood aging stuntman, Sonny Hooper, wants to prove, t...)
Hollywood aging stuntman, Sonny Hooper, wants to prove, that he's still got what it takes to be a great professional in this risky and under-recognized line of work. The screenplay was written by Thomas Rickman and Bill Kerby.
https://www.amazon.com/Hooper-Adam-West/dp/B010VD8UUW/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Hooper&qid=1591628087&sr=8-2
1978
(Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Le...)
Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones, is a remarkable true story of country music star, Loretta Lynn, and her triumph in making a name for herself. The screenplay was written by Thomas Rickman.
https://www.amazon.com/Coal-Miners-Daughter-Sissy-Spacek/dp/B001VM3BZC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Coal+Miner%27s+Daughter&qid=1591627720&sr=8-1
1980
(A moving slice of Americana, that sizzles with sexy roman...)
A moving slice of Americana, that sizzles with sexy romance, sparkles with humor and thunders with the pad-to-pad crunch of hard-nosed football. The screenplay was written by Thomas Rickman.
https://www.amazon.com/Everybodys-All-American-Jessica-Lange/dp/B000O3TL8A/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Everybody%27s+All-American&qid=1591626597&sr=8-1
1988
(A journalist finds himself questioning his own life, when...)
A journalist finds himself questioning his own life, when his best friend, a dying man, offers him some very powerful wisdom and advice for coping in relationships, careers and society. The screenplay was written by Thomas Rickman.
https://www.amazon.com/Tuesdays-With-Morrie/dp/B01M6BC3QN
1999
(Based on a true story of one mother's quest for justice, ...)
Based on a true story of one mother's quest for justice, when her son is critically injured by a young, drunk driver, and how she and her family emerge from the ordeal even stronger than before. Written and directed by Thomas Rickman.
https://www.amazon.com/Crash-Course-Mothers-Fight-Justice/dp/B003JLL2QI
2001
Thomas Rickman was born on February 8, 1940 in Sharpe, Kentucky, United States as James Thomas Rickman.
Thomas Rickman attended graduate school at the University of Illinois. He also studied directing and screenwriting at the Center for Advanced Film Studies, American Film Institute (nowadays AFI Conservatory).
Screenwriter Thomas Rickman began his film career as an aspiring director, studying at the American Film Institute. As a student, he wrote at least one unfilmed script and made one twenty-minute color short What Fixed Me, which was set and filmed in Rickman's native state of Kentucky. That film, which deals with a boy's efforts to emerge from under the domination of his preacher father after the suicide of his mother, was a stepping-stone toward Hollywood assignments. The year of its release, 1972, also saw the release of the first commercial feature, on which he worked, Kansas City Bomber, a Raquel Welch vehicle. That was followed by the film version of a highly regarded Swedish detective novel, The Laughing Policeman, an assignment, which was obtained for Rickman by his agent. The film went through rewrites in other hands, and the location was changed several times.
In 1974, The White Dawn was issued. It was based on a novel about three whalers, who are cast ashore on Baffin Island in the Arctic. Directed by Philip Kaufman, it was shot in Baffin Bay, using local Eskimo talent, in addition to celebrities Timothy Bottoms, Louis Gossett and Warren Oates. During the same period, Rickman wrote a powerful screenplay about the murder of union leader, Joseph "Jock" Yablonski, which he describes as "an anticorruption script," but which was vetoed as anti-union by General Electric, the corporation, that owned the company, that bought the script.
In 1975, Rickman had his first opportunity to work on a movie, filmed from his own original screenplay. It was W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, directed by John Avildsen, and starring Burt Reynolds. Rickman found, that Dancekings may have even surpassed the bad experience of Kansas City Bomber, for he was not allowed on the set during shooting, was compelled to send in rewrites by phone, saw the production go way over budget, found at least one major scene scrapped for what he felt were trivial reasons and believed, that the picture was made with "a certain lack of commitment."
After 1978's Hooper was completed, Rickman made a breakthrough with Coal Miner's Daughter, the film, based on the autobiography of country singer, Loretta Lynn. Rickman used the book as a research source, rather than a source of scenes and dialogue. He went to Kentucky and interviewed the real-life participants in the drama, such as Mooney Lynn, Loretta's husband.
His next screenplay was filmed for a movie, which he himself directed - River Rat (1984). After achieving that longtime personal goal, Rickman wrote another successful screenplay with a "redneck" setting, Everybody's All-American (1988). This was followed by a highly successful television movie, Truman, a study of the former president.
Thomas Rickman also wrote for TV movies, including 1995's Truman and 2003's The Reagans. He also wrote 1999's Tuesdays With Morrie telefilm.
Rickman had three directing credits, including an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1986 and the TV movie A Mother's Fight for Justice in 2001, which he also wrote.
(Based on a true story of one mother's quest for justice, ...)
2001(A journalist finds himself questioning his own life, when...)
1999(Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Le...)
1980(Hollywood aging stuntman, Sonny Hooper, wants to prove, t...)
1978(A moving slice of Americana, that sizzles with sexy roman...)
1988Having experienced both the movie and the television industries, Rickman declared, that television offers the disadvantages of lack of time and of more people, with whom a writer needs to have meetings; and the advantage of shooting on schedule. Assessing both, he found them equally and excessively dominated by "money people" rather than artists.
Rickman was always witty and unassuming. An important element in Tom was his cordial humility.
Physical Characteristics: Tom Rickman died of cancer.
Quotes from others about the person
Nicholas Meyer: "When I first came to Hollywood (somewhat after the Civil War), Tom was the hottest writer in town. And I hated him. Hated him until I met him. Then I loved him from that day to this."
Thomas Rickman was married to Kate Hawley. The couple had two children. Thomas and Kate divorced in 1988.