Connection
Tom Laughlin is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Producer American born on 10 august 1931 at Minneapolis (USA)
Thomas Robert "Tom" Laughlin (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American B-movie actor and director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist.
Laughlin was best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He was married to actress Delores Taylor from 1954 until his death. Taylor also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films. His unique promotion of The Trial of Billy Jack (TV trailers during national news and an "opening day" nationwide release) was a major influence on the way films are marketed.
In the early 1960s, Laughlin put his film career on hiatus to start a Montessori preschool in Santa Monica, California; it became the largest school of its kind in the United States. In his later years, he sought the office of President of the United States in 1992, 2004, and 2008. He also was involved in psychology and domestic abuse counseling, writing several books on Jungian psychology and developing theories on the causes of cancer.
In 2001, it was announced that Laughlin was suffering from a cancer of the tongue that was inoperable. His website claimed the cancer was in remission. His book, The Psychology of Cancer, was about faith, attitude and other factors that might affect cancer. On November 20, 2007, he posted a video on YouTube explaining that poor health had caused him to leave his BillyJack.com website in a dormant state. The site was later revived. Laughlin suffered from Celiac disease, an auto-immune disorder, and suffered a series of strokes. In the video, he announced that he had his health issues under control, that he updated the website, and was planning a new Billy Jack film. However, that film was never made.
(1971)
(Actor)
Source : Wikidata
Tom Laughlin
- Infos
- Photos
- Best films
- Family
- Characters
- Awards
Birth name Thomas Robert Laughlin
Nationality USA
Birth 10 august 1931 at Minneapolis (USA)
Death 12 december 2013 (at 82 years) at Thousand Oaks (USA)
Nationality USA
Birth 10 august 1931 at Minneapolis (USA)
Death 12 december 2013 (at 82 years) at Thousand Oaks (USA)
Thomas Robert "Tom" Laughlin (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American B-movie actor and director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist.
Laughlin was best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He was married to actress Delores Taylor from 1954 until his death. Taylor also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films. His unique promotion of The Trial of Billy Jack (TV trailers during national news and an "opening day" nationwide release) was a major influence on the way films are marketed.
In the early 1960s, Laughlin put his film career on hiatus to start a Montessori preschool in Santa Monica, California; it became the largest school of its kind in the United States. In his later years, he sought the office of President of the United States in 1992, 2004, and 2008. He also was involved in psychology and domestic abuse counseling, writing several books on Jungian psychology and developing theories on the causes of cancer.
Biography
Laughlin married Delores Taylor in 1954. They had three children: Frank, Teresa, and Christina. His daughter Teresa (known by the family as T.C.) is a fashion designer. He derived at least two of his pseudonyms from his children: Frank Laughlin, his son's name and the name he used to direct The Trial of Billy Jack and The Master Gunfighter, and T.C. Frank, which stood for Teresa Christina Frank.In 2001, it was announced that Laughlin was suffering from a cancer of the tongue that was inoperable. His website claimed the cancer was in remission. His book, The Psychology of Cancer, was about faith, attitude and other factors that might affect cancer. On November 20, 2007, he posted a video on YouTube explaining that poor health had caused him to leave his BillyJack.com website in a dormant state. The site was later revived. Laughlin suffered from Celiac disease, an auto-immune disorder, and suffered a series of strokes. In the video, he announced that he had his health issues under control, that he updated the website, and was planning a new Billy Jack film. However, that film was never made.
Best films
(1971)(Actor)
Usually with
Filmography of Tom Laughlin (20 films)
Actor
Add to a movie list
The Return of Billy Jack (1986)
, 1hDirected by Tom Laughlin
Genres Drama, Action, Crime
Actors Delores Taylor, Tom Laughlin, Rodney Harvey
Roles Billy Jack
Rating64%
Billy Jack takes on child pornographers in New York City.
, 1h38Directed by William A. Fraker
Origin USA
Genres Action, Adventure, Romance, Western
Themes Superhero films
Actors Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse, Christopher Lloyd, Matt Clark, Juanin Clay, Jason Robards
Roles Neeley
Rating49%
The outlaw Butch Cavendish (Christopher Lloyd) ambushes a party of Texas Rangers, killing all except John Reid (Klinton Spilsbury) who is rescued by his old childhood Comanche friend, Tonto (Michael Horse). When he recovers from his wounds, he dedicates his life to fighting the crime that Cavendish represents. To this end, John becomes the great masked western hero, The Lone Ranger. With the help of Tonto, the pair go to rescue President Grant (Jason Robards) when Cavendish takes him hostage.
The Big Sleep (1978)
, 1h39Directed by Michael Winner
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime, Romance
Actors Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, Edward Fox
Roles Lou
Rating57%
In 1970s England, private detective Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) is asked to the stately home of General Sternwood (James Stewart), who hires Marlowe to learn who is blackmailing him. While at the mansion, he meets the General's spoiled and inquisitive daughter Charlotte (Sarah Miles) and wild younger daughter Camilla (Candy Clark).
, 2h35Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Political films
Actors Tom Laughlin, E. G. Marshall, Lucie Arnaz, Delores Taylor, Suzanne Somers, Sam Wanamaker
Roles Billy Jack
Rating44%
Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) is appointed a United States Senator to fill out the remaining term of another Senator. It is hoped that he will quietly vote the party line, but his term in the Senate runs into trouble when he proposes a bill to fund a national youth camp which happens to be on the property where a nuclear power plant is also being proposed. His fellow Senator Joseph Paine (E. G. Marshall) claims to oppose nuclear power but is secretly taking graft to influence his votes in favor, and moves to try to keep Billy Jack out of the way when the bill is being debated.
Voyage of the Damned (1976)
, 2h35Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War
Themes Seafaring films, Films about religion, Transport films, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, Malcolm McDowell
Rating63%
Based on actual events, this film tells the story of the 1939 voyage of the MS St. Louis, which departed from Hamburg carrying 937 Jews from Germany, ostensibly to Havana, Cuba. The passengers, having seen and suffered rising anti-Semitism in Germany, realised this might be their only chance to escape. The film details the emotional journey of the passengers who gradually become aware that their passage was planned as an exercise in propaganda, and that it had never been intended that they disembark in Cuba. Rather, they were to be set up as Pariahs, to set an example before the world. As a Nazi official states in the film, when the whole world has refused to accept them as refugees, no country can blame Germany for the fate of the Jews.
Brannigan (1975)
, 1h51Directed by Douglas Hickox
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Actors John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, Mel Ferrer, John Vernon, Ralph Meeker
Rating60%
Tough Chicago Police Lieutenant Jim Brannigan (John Wayne) is sent to London to extradite a notorious American gangster, Ben Larkin (John Vernon). Brannigan is assigned a local officer, Jennifer (Judy Geeson), to help while he is in London. But before Brannigan can collect his man, Larkin is kidnapped.
The Master Gunfighter (1975)
, 2h1Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime, Western
Actors Tom Laughlin, Ron O'Neal, Barbara Carrera, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Burgess Meredith, Mike Lane
Roles Finley
Rating45%
The film is set in southern California near Santa Barbara shortly after California became part of the United States. American settlers and the U.S. government discriminated against the Mexican landowners and frequently took their land by force or legal skullduggery. The film focuses on wealthy Latino ranchers whose land and wealth are at risk. They decide to misdirect a U.S. government ship carrying gold so that it will be wrecked and plundered. To prevent themselves from being caught, they plan to massacre the local Chumash Indians. The hero is the now-estranged adoptive son (Finley), a master swordsman and gunfighter, who tries to prevent this while still saving his family.
The Trial of Billy Jack (1974)
, 2h50Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Musical
Themes Sports films, Martial arts films, Political films
Actors Tom Laughlin, George Aguilar, Delores Taylor, Sacheen Littlefeather, Victor Izay
Roles Billy Jack
Rating46%
Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) goes to court facing an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from events in the earlier film. He is found guilty and sentenced to a prison term. Meanwhile, the kids at the Freedom School—an experimental school for runaways and troubled youth on a Native American reservation in Arizona—vow to rebuild the school. They raise funds and acquire a new building, eventually starting their own newspaper and television station. Inspired by Nader's Raiders, they begin using the newspaper and TV station to conduct investigative reporting, angering several politicians and townspeople in the process with their exposés.
Billy Jack (1971)
, 1h54Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure
Themes Sports films, Martial arts films
Actors Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Victor Izay, Kenneth Tobey, Bert Freed, Howard Hesseman
Roles Billy Jack
Rating61%
Billy Jack is a "half-breed" American Navajo Indian, a Green Beret Vietnam War veteran, and a hapkido master. The character made his début in The Born Losers (1967), a "biker film" about a motorcycle gang terrorizing a California town. Billy Jack rises to the occasion to defeat the gang when defending a college student with evidence against them for gang rape.
The Born Losers (1967)
, 1h53Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Western
Themes Transport films, Motocyclette, Road movies
Actors Jeremy Slate, Tom Laughlin, Jack Starrett, Jane Russell, Stuart Lancaster, Robert Tessier
Roles Billy Jack
Rating59%
Billy Jack is introduced as an enigmatic, half-Indian Vietnam War veteran who shuns society, taking refuge in the peaceful solitude of the California Central Coast mountains. His troubles begin when he descends from this unspoiled setting and drives into a small beach town named Big Rock (Morro Bay). A minor traffic accident in which a motorist hits a motorcyclist results in a savage beating by members of the Born Losers Motorcycle Club. The horrified bystanders (including Laughlin's wife, Delores Taylor, and their two children in cameo roles) are too afraid to help or be involved in any way. Billy Jack jumps into the fray and rescues the man by himself. At this point the police arrive and arrest Billy for using a rifle to stop the fight. (The irony here is that, unknown to Billy, the motorist is the one who starts the fight by inexplicably insulting one of the bikers.
Tall Story (1960)
, 1h28Directed by Joshua Logan
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Themes Sports films, Théâtre, Basketball films, Films based on plays
Actors Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston, Anne Jackson, Murray Hamilton, Robert Redford
Roles Fred Jensen
Rating58%
At Custer University, Ray Blent (Anthony Perkins) is an honor student and college basketball star. June Ryder (Jane Fonda) has come to the university to study home economics and to find a husband. Both students and faculty are scandalized by Ryder's unashamed pursuit of Blent. She joins the pom-pom girls and attends all the classes taken by Blent to ensure she has maximum contact with him. Everyone is aware of her designs on the sexually naive Blent, except for him. She succeeds in convincing him that she has an intelligent, inquiring mind that he admires, although this is all done through deception. She eventually gets Blent to fall for her and propose marriage. However, they need several thousand dollars to set up a home.
The Proper Time (1960)
, 1h17Directed by Tom Laughlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Tom Laughlin, Kip King
Roles Mickey Henderson
Rating70%
Laughlin stars as Mickey Henderson, a student at UCLA with a speech impediment that goes away when he is in contact with girls. He starts a friendship with Sue (Norma Quine), but is seduced by her roommate Doreen (Nira Monsour). He and Doreen soon get engaged, but when he finds she has been cheating on him, he breaks up with her. Quine convinces him to go to a clinic for help with his speech problem.
Gidget (1959)
, 1h35Directed by Paul Wendkos
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Sports films, Transport films, Surfing films
Actors Sandra Dee, James Darren, Cliff Robertson, Joby Baker, Tom Laughlin, Doug McClure
Roles Lover Boy
Rating65%
Frances Lawrence (Sandra Dee) is about to turn 17 years old and is on her summer break between her junior and senior years of high school. She resists the pressure to go "manhunting" with her girlfriends and laments the days when the girls had fun together without boys. Frances also rejects her parents wishing to fix her up on a date with the son of a friend of the family, Jeffrey Matthews.
Battle of the Coral Sea (1959)
, 1h26Directed by Paul Wendkos
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Prison films, Transport films, Underwater action films, Submarine films, Political films
Actors Cliff Robertson, Gia Scala, Teru Shimada, Patricia Cutts, Gene Blakely, Robin Hughes
Roles Ens. Franklin
Rating56%
The crew of an American submarine are on a reconnaissance mission photographing Japanese installations through a periscope camera. When attacked by the Japanese (with similarities to the USS Perch) the submarine is scuttled and the crew is captured. Tortured by the Japanese, with the help of British and Australian prisoners the crew makes an escape bid to get their information to the Allies. The film ends with footage of the Battle of the Coral Sea that according to the film was made possible through the information brought back by the submariners.
Lafayette Escadrille (1958)
, 1h33Directed by William A. Wellman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes French war films, Films about sexuality, Transport films, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Aviation films, Political films, Erotic thriller films
Actors Tab Hunter, David Janssen, Will Hutchins, Etchika Choureau, Paul Fix, Marcel Dalio
Roles Arthur Blumenthal
Rating55%
Thad Walker (Tab Hunter), a spoiled, rich kid from Boston, who had gotten in serious trouble with the law, fled to France to join the French Foreign Legion in World War I. In Paris, with companions, "Duke" Sinclair (David Janssen), Dave Putnam (Will Hutchins), Tom Hitchcock (Jody McCrea) and Bill Wellman (William Wellman Jr.), the boys stop at a bar and learn of the recent formation of the Lafayette Escadrille made up of American volunteer pilots who fly for France. The group of expatriates join up and learn to fly on training aircraft before becoming combat pilots.