Hampton Fancher

Hampton Lansden Fancher (born July 18, 1938) is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, best known for co-writing the 1982 neo-noir science fiction film Blade Runner and its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. His 1999 directorial debut, The Minus Man, won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Hampton Fancher
Fancher at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Hampton Lansden Fancher

(1938-07-18) July 18, 1938
East Los Angeles, California, US
Other namesMario Montejo
OccupationScreenwriter, producer, actor, director
Known forBlade Runner
Blade Runner 2049
The Minus Man
Spouse(s)
  • Joann McNabb (1957–63; divorced)
  • Sue Lyon (1963–65; divorced)
Awards

He currently resides in the Brooklyn Heights district of New York City.

Early life

Fancher was born to a Mexican-Danish mother[1] and an American father, a physician, in East Los Angeles, California.[2] At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco dancer and renamed himself "Mario Montejo". Following the breakup of his marriage to Joann McNabb, he was married to Sue Lyon from 1963 to 1965.[3]

Career

In 1959, Fancher appeared in the episode "Misfits" of the ABC western television series, The Rebel. In the storyline, Fancher used the name "Bull," with Malcolm Cassell as Billy the Kid and Hal Stalmaster as "Skinny" plotting to rob a bank so that they can live thereafter without working. The "Misfits" enlist the help of The Rebel (Nick Adams) in carrying out their doomed scheme.[4]

Fancher then played Deputy Lon Gillis in seven episodes of the ABC western, Black Saddle, with Peter Breck. He guest starred on other westerns, Have Gun, Will Travel, Tate, Stagecoach West, Outlaws, Maverick (in the fourth season episode "Last Stop: Oblivion" with Buddy Ebsen), Lawman, Temple Houston, Cheyenne (1961 episode "Incident at Dawson Flats"), and also Bonanza (1966 episode "A Dollar's Worth of Trouble").

Fancher appeared in two Troy Donahue films: 1961's Parrish and 1962's Rome Adventure and was cast as Larry Wilson in the 1963 episode "Little Richard" of the CBS anthology series, GE True, hosted by Jack Webb.[5] In 1965, he played the role of Hamp Fisher in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Silent Six." All in all, Fancher played roles in over fifty movies and television shows. During this time, he also had relationships with a variety of women, including Barbara Hershey and Teri Garr. Although he showed interest in screenwriting, it would take until 1977 for Fancher to transition fully into screenwriting. He continues to act occasionally.[6]

After trying to option Philip K. Dick's 1968 science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1975, when the rights were not available, Fancher sent his friend Brian Kelly, a prospective film producer, to negotiate with Dick.[7] Dick agreed, and Fancher was brought on to write a screenplay before Kelly would later enlist the support of producer Michael Deeley.[8] This made Fancher the executive producer, which led to disagreements with eventual director Ridley Scott, who then brought in David Peoples to continue reworking the script. Scott and Fancher had already clashed concerning the movie, as Scott felt the original script did not sufficiently explore the world of the movie, choosing instead to focus on the interior drama. Fancher's rewriting process was too slow for the production crew, which nicknamed him "Happen Faster".[9] The movie was ultimately filmed and released as Blade Runner (1982).[10]

Fancher wrote two films following Blade Runner. The Mighty Quinn (1989) starred Denzel Washington and The Minus Man (1999) starred Owen Wilson. The latter he also directed.[11] More recently, he wrote the story and co-wrote, with Michael Green, the screenplay for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), a sequel to the 1982 film.

In the early 1980s, Fancher lived outside of Los Angeles in Topanga Canyon. Fancher appeared in a cameo role in the independent film Tonight at Noon (2009), directed by Michael Almereyda and starring Rutger Hauer.

In 2019, Fancher will publish a screenwriting manual, The Wall Will Tell You.[12] The book draws from his personal experiences.

Later work

Fancher provided voiceover commentary for The Criterion Collection edition DVD extras of the film noir adaptations of Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers", which included the 1946, 1956 and 1964 versions.

His life was the subject of Escapes, a documentary directed by Michael Almereyda and executive-produced by Wes Anderson.

Filmography

As actor
Year Title Role Notes
1958 The Brain Eaters Zombie (uncredited)
1961 Parrish Edgar Raike
1962 Rome Adventure Albert Stillwell
1965 The Incredible Sex Revolution Harold Morton
1970 Mir hat es immer Spaß gemacht Gino
1975 The Other Side of the Mountain Lee Zadroga
1976 Survive! Hampton
2005 Men's League Urknown cameo Short film
2009 Tonight at Noon Himself Cameo appearance
2010 Hands & Eyes The Art Critic Short film

As filmmaker
Year Title Writer Director Executive
Producer		 Notes
1982 Blade Runner Yes Yes
1989 The Mighty Quinn Yes
1999 The Minus Man Yes Yes
2017 2036: Nexus Dawn Yes Short films
2048: Nowhere to Run Yes
Blade Runner 2049 Yes

Television
Year(s) Title Role(s) Notes
1958-1960 Have Gun - Will Travel Ben Dawes / Beau Crommer / Keith Loring 3 episodes
1959 Zane Grey Theater Linc Episode ''Deadfall''
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Tim Plunkett Episode ''The Burning Girl''
The D.A.'s Man Danny Wilder Episode ''Out of Town''
The Lineup Rivers Episode ''Wake Up to Terror''
Law of the Plainsman Harver Episode ''A Matter of Life and Death''
The Rebel Bull Episode ''Misfits''
1959-1960 Black Saddle Orv Tibbett / Deputy Gillis / Lon Gillis 7 episodes
1959-1965 Gunsmoke Gunman / Dunc Hedgepeth / Clem / Milton Clum 4 episodes
1960 The Detectives Frankie Episode ''Time and Tide''
Father Knows Best Rudy Kissler Episode ''Blind Date''
Tate Coley Episode ''Quiet After the Storm''
Outlaws Mike Duane Episode ''Shorty''
1961 Cheyenne Jasper Dawson Episode ''Incident at Dawson Flats''
The Best of the Post Urknown Episode ''Frontier Correspondent''
Stagecoach West Adam Episode ''Not in Our Stars''
Maverick Tate McKenna Episode ''Last Stop: Oblivion''
Lawman Lester Beason Episode ''Conditional Surrender''
The Rifleman Corey Hazlitt Episode ''The Decision''
1962-1964 Rawhide Billy Hobson / Jake Hammerklein 3 episodes
1963 GE True Larry Wilson Episode ''Little Richard''
Temple Houston Jim Stocker Episode ''The Third Bullet''
Death Valley Days Ned Murphy Episode ''The Red Ghost of Eagle Creek''
1963-1964 77 Sunset Strip Len / Chuck Gates Jr. 2 episodes
1964 The Great Adventure Fleming Episode ''Rodger Young''
Arrest and Trial Raymond Episode ''Somewhat Lower Than the Angels''
1965 Perry Mason Hamp Fisher Episode ''The Case of the Silent Six"
1966 The Fugitive Homer Episode ''The 2130''
Bonanza Craig Bonner Episode ''A Dollar's Worth of Trouble''
The Road West Gray Yeater Episode ''Piece of Tin''
The Monroes Carl Goff Episode ''Silent Night, Deadly Night''
1967 Daniel Boone Tad Arlen / Lieutenant Noland 2 episodes
1967-1972 Mannix Cornwall Dover / Carl Loder (uncredited) 2 episodes
1969 Romeo und Julia '70 Romeo Müller, Taxichauffeur Mini-Series
2 episodes
1969-1972 Adam-12 Philip Bartell / Ray 2 episodes
1973 Of Men and Women Himself Unsold pilot
Segment ''The Interview''
1974 Get Christie Love! Rod Episode ''Get Christie Love!''
The Stranger Who Looks Like Me Adoptive Parent #3 TV Movie
1976 Switch Jeff Louden Episode ''Pirates of Tin Pan Alley''
The Blue Knight Guss Fermin Episode ''Bull's Eye''
1977 Police Story Pike Harriman Episode ''One of Our Cops Is Crazy''
1978 Last of the Good Guys Officer George Talltree (uncredited) TV Movie

References
  1. "Interview with Hampton Fancher, October 2017". Aesop.com. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  2. Gettingit.com: Life of a Hollywood Scribe Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Movies" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ""Misfits", The Rebel, November 29, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  5. "Hampton Fancher". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  6. Friend, Tad (August 21, 2017). "Hampton Fancher on the Edge of Fame". The New Yorker. The New Yorker. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  7. Epstein, Sonia (September 29, 2017). "Interview with Writer Hampton Fancher of Blade Runner". Sloan Science & Film.
  8. TURAN, KENNETH (September 13, 1992). "Blade Runner 2 : The Screenwriter Wrote Eight Drafts--and Then Was Replaced. On His First Day, The Director Turned The Set Upside Down. Harrison Ford Was Never So Miserable. Years Later, Someone Stumbled Over The Long-lost Original. Nothing About This Cult Classic Was Ever Simple". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  9. Schulman, Michael (September 14, 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  10. Maslin, Janet (June 25, 1982). "Futuristic 'Blade Runner'" – via NYTimes.com.
  11. Kirschbaum, Susan M. (August 22, 1999). "A NIGHT OUT: With Wes Anderson; Dissecting Films And Serial Killers" – via NYTimes.com.
  12. "The Wall Will Tell You by Hampton Fancher: 9781612197616 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com.
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