David Zucker

In all of my movies you will see a reference to Davy Crockett. His picture hangs on the wall of most of my movies, but that’s just a coincidence having to do with my bringing the picture to the set and having the grips hang it prominently on a wall. What are the odds? What is a grip?

Working with OJ Simpson was great. His acting was a lot like his murdering—he got away with it, but no one really believed him. I worked with him for three movies, but off the set there was not much contact.  I only remember we last chatted at the Naked Gun 33 1/3 wrap party; I sold him my knife collection and never saw him again. I’m sorry he never found his wife’s murderer, but I think he’s finally in the right place to look.

Nobody told us that Davy Crockett was gay, and I think it’s a shame that today he couldn’t serve openly in the Army. Can’t help thinking all that buckskin might’ve signified something other than “rugged frontiersman.”

History has taught me that it doesn’t matter how many Indians you kill if you later try to help the remaining ones.

The funniest person I know is Professor Paul Andrew Hutton or Kim Jong-II. It’s a tie.

I can’t remember the last time I took a memory course. It’s that way for lots of married guys.

Upon returning from any meeting concerning a “make-money” scheme, ask yourself three questions: Were they young guys? Were they from out of town? Was the meeting held in a hotel? If the answer to all three is “yes,” pass.

The reason the Western is a hard sell is because after Brokeback Mountain, there’s really nothing more to say.

Nobody knows this about me, but I’m a big Green Bay Packers fan.

When I was on scouting locations for Naked Gun 2 1/2 I visited the Library of Congress looking for an alleged picture of Wyatt Earp in the silent movie called The Squaw Man. Instead, I found the heretofore undiscovered picture of famed lawman Texas John Slaughter, as an extra in a courtroom scene.

The toughest part of getting old is: things that were once easy are now hard, and things that were once hard, aren’t.

What were they thinking when they announced “last call.”

I screened Naked Gun 33 1/3 at the White House. When I introduced the film, I mentioned that I didn’t direct it since I was busy working on a movie script about Davy Crockett. Hillary Clinton, seated in the first row, asked if I was going to include the song; I started to answer that I wasn’t planning to, it being a serious film. The future Secretary of State ignored this, replying “but you’ve got to use the song” and started singing the first verse. Within an instant, the entire room erupted in “Davy, Davy Crockett,” and I was leading it!

President Bill Clinton also grilled me with questions about the movie’s buxom star, Anna Nicole Smith.  Like a good Boy Scout, I answered politely and factually. Years later, it dawned on me that he was expecting me to set him up. Duh!

The most fun I’ve ever had was when I played Davy Crockett in Naked Gun 2 1/2. I don’t think you need any more evidence how pathetic my life is….

David Zucker – Writer, Director & Producer

With worldwide box office hits such as Airplane!, Top Secret!, Ruthless People, three Naked Guns, BASEketball, Phone Booth, A Walk In the Clouds and the record-breaking Scary Movie 3 & 4 all to his credit, David Zucker is one of Hollywood’s most successful and profitable filmmakers. David resides in Los Angeles, California, with his physician wife Danielle and two children, Charles, 10, and Sarah, 8.