Jim Abrahams

American film director and writer, best known as a member of the comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker.

He was 26 and a private investigator in his hometown when a chance meeting with childhood pals, David and Jerry Zucker, led to their founding of the Kentucky Fried Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, a multimedia presentation that combined live improv skits with film and video satire. They moved the show to Los Angeles providing the core for The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977). Three years later the three scored a surprise box-office hit as co-writers and directors of the film Airplane! (1980), a loony spoof of Airport. Their continued comedies included the Naked Gun series.

Abrahams had three children. His daughter, Jamie Abrahams, is also a comedy writer. He lost his home in a fire on 3 November 1993 in Malibu, California.

Jim Abrahams died from leukaemia at his home in Santa Monica, California on 26 November 2024 at the age of 80. He had the disease for twenty years before his death and at one point was in remission until it returned.