James Toback

Born: 23 November 1944
Where: New York

A former journalist, sports writer and literature professor Toback began his film career with the semi-autobiographical screenplay for Karel Reisz's The Gambler, and made a powerful directorial debut with 1978's Fingers, which he also wrote, about an aspiring pianist (Harvey Keitel) who reluctantly "collects" debts owed to his domineering father.

The director-screenwriter's next three films, Love and Money, the erotic thriller Exposed, in which he made his acting debut, and The Pick-up Artist, did not live up to the promise of what film critic (and personal friend) David Thomson called "...the best first film by an American director since Badlands."

He followed his engaging documentary The Big Bang with an award-winning and Oscar-nominated screenplay for Barry Levinson's Bugsy.

Toback didn't direct again until the low-budget, Two Girls and a Guy reunited him with Pick-up Artist Robert Downey Jr. The film, a character study about two woman who confront their mutual boyfriend, had to have some lovemaking scenes cut to finally achieve an R rating.

In 1999 he was back behind the camera directing Black and White, an improvisational comedy featuring Downey and Brooke Shields. Then in 2001 Toback realized a dream project, directing Harvard Man which he also wrote.