David Zucker

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David Zucker (born October 16, 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American film director. He graduated from Shorewood High School.

Zucker is married to Danielle Zucker, with whom he has two children. He is the brother of filmmaker Jerry Zucker.

Some of his movies include The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977, The Naked Gun in 1988, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991, BASEketball in 1998, Scary Movie 3 in 2003, its sequel Scary Movie 4 in 2006 and its prequel Scary Movie 5 (due in 2008).

He co-directed several films including Airplane! in 1980 and Top Secret! in 1984; along with his brother, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, the trio make up the ZAZ team of directors. He has also worked with Pat Proft (with whom he first teamed up on the Naked Gun show Police Squad!) and Craig Mazin (writer of three of the four Scary Movies).

ZAZ and Proft are renowned to have created the parody genre of films, in which jokes are spit out with rapid-fire, using puns, physical humor, wit, and double entendres. Some of the veteran actors of ZAZ's vision of parody include Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Charlie Sheen, Julie Hagerty, and Anna Faris (who has starred in all four of the Scary Movie series). In his movies, his mother is often cast in a small bit part (like one of the Lucille Ball impersonators in Rat Race, and Vincent Ludwig's secretary Dominique in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!).

David Zucker has stated that his dream project is a Davey Crockett biopic.

[edit] Politics

Zucker, a longtime liberal Democrat, switched to the Republican Party in 2004 reportedly due to his concerns about national security and voted for President George W. Bush though his brother Jerry continues to be a Democrat [1]. A campaign contribution search shows his only contribution to the Republican party or candidates was a $2647 contribution to clubforgrowth.net, a website dedicated to hosting a few political videos including his initial anti-Kerry video. On Oct 10, 2006, The Drudge Report published a link to a political ad that Zucker produced which was featured on Youtube. The ad was intended for use by GOP organizations, but was considered somewhat controversial by GOP Strategists. In a quote from a Drudge Report exclusive:

In the ad, Zucker....recreates former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's 2000 visit to North Korea. During the visit, Secretary Albright presented North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il with a basketball autographed by former NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

The actress, Adele Stasilli-Fernandez, playing Secretary Albright is shown presenting Kim Jong Il with the Michael Jordan basketball, painting the walls of Osama bin Laden's Afghanistan cave and turning a blind eye to suicide bombers. In one scene, her skirt rips as she changes the tire of a Middle Eastern dictator's limousine.

One GOP strategist said "jaws dropped" when the ad was first viewed. "Nobody could believe Zucker thought any political organization could use this ad. It makes a point, but it's way over the top."