Tom Laughlin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tom Laughlin
|
|
|---|---|
Laughlin in 1978
|
|
| Born |
Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr.
August 10, 1931 |
| Died | December 12, 2013 (aged 82) |
| Other names | Tommy Laughlin, T.C. Frank, Don Henderson, Mary Rose Solti, Frank Laughlin, Frank Christina, Lloyd E. James |
| Occupation | Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, educator |
| Years active | 1955–2010 |
| Spouse(s) |
Delores Taylor
(m. 1954) |
| Children | 3 |
Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. (born August 10, 1931 – died December 12, 2013) was an American actor, director, writer, teacher, and activist.
Laughlin was most famous for his series of movies about a character called Billy Jack. He was married to actress Delores Taylor from 1954 until he passed away. Delores Taylor also helped make and acted in all four Billy Jack films. Tom Laughlin changed how movies were advertised. He used TV commercials during national news and released his film The Trial of Billy Jack in many places at once. This idea greatly influenced how movies are promoted today.
In the early 1960s, Laughlin took a break from movies to open a Montessori preschool in Santa Monica, California. It grew to be the biggest school of its kind in the United States. Later in his life, he tried to become President of the United States in 1992, 2004, and 2008. He was also interested in psychology and helping people with domestic violence. He wrote books about psychology and developed ideas about what causes cancer.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Tom Laughlin was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents were Margaret and Thomas Laughlin. He went to Washington High School.
Laughlin studied at the University of Wisconsin and then at Marquette University. He played football at both universities. He played as a safety and halfback at Marquette.
Starting His Acting Career
Laughlin decided to become an actor after watching a play called A Streetcar Named Desire. A professor at Marquette University, Father John J. Walsh, encouraged him to join the drama program.
While in college, he started a theater group. He directed and starred in a play called All My Sons by Arthur Miller. He later moved to the University of South Dakota. There, he studied radio acting, directing, and producing. He met his future wife, Delores Taylor, in South Dakota.
Laughlin wrote the first story for the film Billy Jack in 1954. He was inspired after seeing how Native Americans were treated in his wife's hometown, Winner, South Dakota. Tom and Delores got married on October 15, 1954.
He started his acting career on TV in 1955 in the series Climax!. After that, he appeared in several movies. These included These Wilder Years (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), Lafayette Escadrille (1958), and South Pacific (1958).
He also appeared in many TV shows in the late 1950s. In 1958, he had a small but memorable role in South Pacific. He played a Navy pilot named Lt. Buzz Adams. In 1959, he was in the NBC Western series Riverboat. He played young Tom Fowler, who was the boss of a corrupt town. That same year, Laughlin starred in another western series, Tales of Wells Fargo.
Also in 1959, Laughlin was in the movie Gidget as Lover Boy. In his early years, he struggled to make enough money. He once told People magazine that he and his wife lived on very little money and ate Spam.
Laughlin's first main role in a movie was in Robert Altman's 1957 film The Delinquents. He played Scotty White, a teenager who gets involved with a gang. Even though the movie had a small budget, it became very popular.
Directing His Own Films
Laughlin directed his first movie, The Proper Time, in 1957. However, it was not released until 1962. This film was a romantic drama set at UCLA. Laughlin filmed it in six days with a small budget.
Laughlin also wrote, directed, and starred in The Young Sinner. This movie was filmed in 1960 in Milwaukee. It tells the story of a high school athlete who gets into trouble. The film was meant to be the first part of a series. It was first shown in 1963 and then re-released in 1965.
Beyond Hollywood
In 1959, Laughlin and his wife started a Montessori preschool in Santa Monica, California. By 1961, Laughlin left the movie business to focus on the school. By 1964, it was the largest Montessori school in the United States. However, by 1965, the school went bankrupt. One of his students was Christian Brando, the son of his friend, Marlon Brando.
The Billy Jack Films
In 1967, Tom Laughlin wrote, directed (using the name T. C. Frank), and starred in the movie The Born Losers. This was the first movie where the character of Billy Jack appeared. It became a surprise hit at the box office.
He then made the sequel to The Born Losers, called Billy Jack, in 1971. The movie studio, American International Pictures, first agreed to release it. But they wanted to cut out many political parts. Laughlin and his wife refused, so they held back the sound for the movie. Eventually, Laughlin made a deal with Warner Bros.. But he didn't like how Warner Bros. advertised the film. He sued them and released the movie himself in 1973.
The re-release of Billy Jack was very successful. It was popular with young people in America. The movie was one of the first to show hapkido martial arts to American audiences. It also included ideas from psychology and Native American beliefs. As part of promoting the film, Bong Soo Han, who helped with the martial arts in the movie, traveled around the United States giving hapkido demonstrations.
The Born Losers was re-released in 1974 and earned much more money than it did the first time.
How Billy Jack Changed Movies
The second sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack, came out in late 1974. It was a huge success at the box office. The movie featured notable Native Americans like Sacheen Littlefeather and criticized the Kent State shootings.
But what really made this film famous was how Laughlin promoted it. Most movies at that time opened in only a few cities and then slowly spread. But The Trial of Billy Jack opened in cities all over the country on the same day. Commercials for it were shown during the national news. This way of promoting movies changed the film industry forever. It has been called "the first blockbuster."
In 1975, Laughlin released The Master Gunfighter. This was a Western movie set in the 1840s, showing the struggles of the Chumash people. Laughlin grew a full beard for the film. His character fought with both a revolver and a samurai sword.
He returned to the Billy Jack series in 1977. However, the fourth movie, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, did not do well because of problems with its release. This proved to be Laughlin's last film.
Later Career
In 1985, Laughlin started making a fifth Billy Jack movie, The Return of Billy Jack. But he got a head and neck injury during filming, so production stopped. The money for the movie ran out, and it was never finished. In 2009, some scenes from the unfinished film were put on Laughlin's website.
A notable event happened while he was filming in New York City. He broke up a street fight on Manhattan's West Side. He also gained attention for making a citizen's arrest of a man after an argument about Laughlin's driving.
Laughlin tried to get money to finish the fifth Billy Jack film for many years. He even planned to make a Billy Jack TV series. In 2004, he announced the film would be called Billy Jack's Crusade to End the War in Iraq and Restore America to Its Moral Purpose. This was later shortened to Billy Jack's Moral Revolution in 2006.
In 2008, the film's title changed again to Billy Jack for President. Then it was called Billy Jack and Jean. Laughlin said it would be a "new kind of film" with lots of social commentary.
In 2010, Tom Laughlin's children, Frank, Chris, and Teresa Laughlin, started Billy Jack Rights, LLC. This company manages the rights to all of Tom Laughlin's films, including the Billy Jack series.
Other Work
His Political Journeys
In his later years, Laughlin became interested in politics. In 1992, he tried to get the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President as a protest. He said he was "the least qualified person I know to be President, except George Bush."
He was on the primary ballots in New Hampshire and Louisiana. He campaigned for things like a tax cut for regular Americans, term limits for politicians, better public education, universal health care, and nuclear disarmament.
Laughlin was not allowed to join the main debates because party officials did not see him as a serious candidate. He received 1,986 votes in the New Hampshire primary. He felt this was due to the Democratic Party not giving him enough time to speak compared to other candidates. He did take part in a debate for independent presidential candidates. However, many news outlets saw him as a "fringe candidate."
Laughlin later protested being left off the primary ballot in his home state of Wisconsin. This was at the same time that David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, was included. After leaving the race, Laughlin worked as an advisor for Ross Perot's campaign.
He ran for president again in 2004, this time as a Republican. He campaigned against the Iraq War. He received 154 votes in the New Hampshire primary. He was again not allowed to participate in the debates. He ran for president one more time in 2008 as a Democrat, getting 47 votes in the New Hampshire primary.
Laughlin was very open about his dislike for the Iraq War and President George W. Bush. His website had writings that called the Iraq conflict worse than the Vietnam War. He also wrote about how to end the war. He often said there was a need for a strong, mainstream third political party.
Interest in Psychology
Even though he was not a trained psychologist, Laughlin was very interested in psychology. He studied the subject on his own. A 1975 article about Laughlin mentioned his deep interest in psychology.
Laughlin gave talks about psychology at universities and colleges across the United States since the 1970s. These included Yale University and Stanford University.
In 1995, because of his background in football and psychology, he was asked to counsel University of Nebraska football player Lawrence Phillips. This happened after Phillips was suspended from the team. Laughlin said that Phillips should not be allowed to play again unless he truly changed.
Laughlin wrote several books about psychology. These included The Psychology of Cancer and Jungian Psychology vol. 2: Jungian Theory and Therapy, published in 1980. He also wrote The Cancer Personality (1998), where he shared his ideas about cancer.
One of his main concerns was domestic abuse. He became involved in this issue after seeing a neighbor, who was a police officer, beating his wife.
Personal Life
Laughlin married Delores Taylor in 1954. They had three children: Frank, Teresa, and Christina. His daughter Teresa is a fashion designer. He used some of his children's names for his own acting names. For example, Frank Laughlin was his son's name, and he used it to direct some films. T.C. Frank stood for Teresa Christina Frank.
In 2001, it was announced that Laughlin had cancer of the tongue. His website later said the cancer was in remission. His book The Psychology of Cancer was about how faith, attitude, and other things might affect cancer.
In January 2007, Tom Laughlin gave a speech at the funeral for Han Bong-soo. Han Bong-soo was the hapkido grandmaster who taught him martial arts for the movie Billy Jack. Laughlin remembered him as "a holy man."
On November 20, 2007, he posted a video online. He explained that poor health had caused him to stop updating his BillyJack.com website. The site was later updated again. Laughlin had celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder. He also had a series of strokes. In the video, he said his health issues were under control and that he was planning a new Billy Jack film. However, that film was never made.
Filmography
As director
- The Proper Time (1960) (also writer)
- Like Father, Like Son (1961 film) (1961) (also writer)
- The Born Losers (1967)
- Billy Jack (1971) (also writer)
- The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) (also writer)
- The Master Gunfighter (1975) (also writer)
- Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) (also writer)
- The Return of Billy Jack (1986; unreleased)
His Passing
Tom Laughlin passed away from problems related to pneumonia on December 12, 2013. He died at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California.
Images for kids
-
A robot for kids
See also
- List of people diagnosed with coeliac disease
- Political cinema
