Hampton Fancher is a former actor who became a producer and screenwriter in the late 1970s. Fancher was born to a Mexican mother and an American father in East Los Angeles

East Los Angeles, California

East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco

Flamenco

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

 dancer and renamed himself Mario Montejo. He was married briefly to Sue Lyon

Sue Lyon

- Lolita :Sue Lyon was 14 years old when she was cast in the role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze, the sexually charged adolescent and the object of an older man's obsessions in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, Lolita. She was chosen for the role partly because her curvy figure suggested an older adolescent...

 of Lolita

Lolita (1962 film)

Lolita is a 1962 comedy-drama film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. The film stars James Mason as Humbert Humbert, Sue Lyon as Dolores Haze and Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze with Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty.Due to the MPAA's restrictions at...

fame.
Fancher lives in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Career

Fancher is best known for writing the first screenplay of the science fiction film Blade Runner

Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...

. After convincing Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick

Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...

 to option his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick first published in 1968. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter of androids, while the secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-normal intelligence who befriends some of the...

, Fancher wrote a screenplay and got the support of producer Michael Deeley

Michael Deeley

Michael Deeley is a British film producer who has helped create notable films such as The Italian Job, Blade Runner and The Deer Hunter. He is also a founding member and Deputy Chairman of The British Screen Advisory Council....

. This made Fancher the executive producer which led to disagreements with the director Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...

 and David Peoples

David Peoples

David Webb Peoples is an American screenwriter.-Life and career:Peoples was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Ruth and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist. He studied English at the University of California, Berkeley...

 being brought in to continue reworking the script.

Fancher wrote two films afterward, The Mighty Quinn (1989) starring Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...

 and The Minus Man

The Minus Man

The Minus Man is a 1999 film based on the novel by Lew McCreary. It was directed by Hampton Fancher, who also wrote the screenplay. The film centers on a psychotic killer whom Fancher describes as "a cross between Psycho's Norman Bates, Melville's Billy Budd and Being There's Chauncey...

(1999), which he also directed, starring Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson

Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

.

In the early 80's, Fancher wrote and lived outside of Los Angeles in trendy Topanga Canyon.

Fancher appeared in a cameo role in the independent film Tonight at Noon by Michael Almereyda

Michael Almereyda

Michael Almereyda is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His most well known work is Hamlet , starring Ethan Hawke.-Early life:...

, which stars Rutger Hauer.

Fancher provided the voiceover narration for the DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 extras in The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...

 edition of famous film noir The Killers

The Killers (short story)

'"The Killers"' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It first appeared to the public in 1927 in Scribner's Magazine. How much Hemingway received for the literary piece is unknown, but some sources state it was $200. Historians have some documents showing that the working title of the piece was...

, which included the 1946

The Killers (1946 film)

The Killers is a 1946 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak. It is based in part on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film features Burt Lancaster in his screen debut, as well as Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, and Sam Levene...

, 1956 and 1964

The Killers (1964 film)

The Killers, sometimes marketed as Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, is a 1964 crime film released by Universal Studios. It is the second Hollywood adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's short story of the same name, following a version made in 1946 starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. It was directed...

 versions.

Filmography

• Blade Runner
  Blade Runner
  Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
  
  (1982)
• The Mighty Quinn (1989)
• The Minus Man
  The Minus Man
  The Minus Man is a 1999 film based on the novel by Lew McCreary. It was directed by Hampton Fancher, who also wrote the screenplay. The film centers on a psychotic killer whom Fancher describes as "a cross between Psycho's Norman Bates, Melville's Billy Budd and Being There's Chauncey...
  
  (1999)

External links

• Salon.com – The flamenco man: Hampton Fancher