James Toback

James Toback (born November 23, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. Toback was born in New York City. His mother, Selma Judith (née Levy), was a President of The League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His father, Irwin Lionel Toback, was a stockbroker and former Vice-President of Dreyfus & Company. Toback graduated from The Fieldston School in 1963 and from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1966. A... more

James Toback (born November 23, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. Toback was born in New York City. His mother, Selma Judith (née Levy), was a President of The League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His father, Irwin Lionel Toback, was a stockbroker and former Vice-President of Dreyfus & Company. Toback graduated from The Fieldston School in 1963 and from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1966. After graduating from Harvard, Toback worked as a journalist. An assignment from Esquire on football player Jim Brown led to collaboration on Jim: The Author's Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown. In 1974, Toback's screenplay The Gambler was produced; his directorial début was the 1978 film Fingers, remade twenty-eight years later by Jacques Audiard as The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Toback followed Fingers with Love and Money in 1982. Toback wrote and directed Exposed in 1983, and in 1989, Toback directed the documentary The Big Bang.... less