Richard Hack
Encyclopedia
Richard Hack is an American writer best known for his biographical books and screenplays. He is a frequent guest on talk shows and an outspoken critic of bias in television news.
, Hack attended the Lynnewood School, and Haverford High School, on the Main Line
in suburban Philadelphia. He later attended Pennsylvania State University
and holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Design.
Hack moved to Los Angeles
where he was hired by TV Guide
magazine as its West Coast national programming editor. By the early 80s, Hack began writing the TeleVisions column for the daily entertainment trade paper, The Hollywood Reporter
. During the next decade, Hack was instrumental in propelling the paper into a dominant position over rival Variety
, and often appeared on The Tonight Show
and Today reporting on Hollywood.
During the same period, he was a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey
, Good Morning America
, Larry King Live
, Charlie Rose
, Tomorrow
, Entertainment Tonight
, and Access Hollywood
.
In 1990, Hack left The Hollywood Reporter to become Vice President of Creative Affairs at Dove Audio and Entertainment, a production company that specialized in miniseries
and books-on-tape. While at Dove, Hack adapted Sidney Sheldon
’s The Sands of Time, Memories of Midnight
, and The Stars Shine Down
as mini-series, which he also produced, and wrote his first book, Next to Hughes with Robert Maheu
.
Since leaving Dove, Hack moved to a horse ranch in Maui
, where he stabled polo ponies, and established a home on the Intracoastal in Florida
.
His bestseller Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters was released on September 11, 2001. Hack was being interviewed live on the Today show by Matt Lauer
when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
His subsequent book, PuppetMaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover is being made into a feature film by HBO Films
.
's 2004 film about Howard Hughes, The Aviator.
However, two competing films about Hughes were in development at the same time. The other film was to have been directed by Christopher Nolan
, with star Jim Carrey
and financing from Castle Rock
. Its script was going to be based on Hack's biography. That film was never produced.
Background
Born in Drexel Hill, PennsylvaniaDrexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill is a census-designated place in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel Hill is located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area...
, Hack attended the Lynnewood School, and Haverford High School, on the Main Line
Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad)
The Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad was a rail line in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, connecting Philadelphia with Pittsburgh via Harrisburg...
in suburban Philadelphia. He later attended Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
and holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Design.
Hack moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where he was hired by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
magazine as its West Coast national programming editor. By the early 80s, Hack began writing the TeleVisions column for the daily entertainment trade paper, The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
. During the next decade, Hack was instrumental in propelling the paper into a dominant position over rival Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, and often appeared on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
and Today reporting on Hollywood.
During the same period, he was a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose (talk show)
Charlie Rose is an American television interview show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. The show is syndicated...
, Tomorrow
Tomorrow (TV series)
Tomorrow was an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder...
, Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, and Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
.
In 1990, Hack left The Hollywood Reporter to become Vice President of Creative Affairs at Dove Audio and Entertainment, a production company that specialized in miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
and books-on-tape. While at Dove, Hack adapted Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
’s The Sands of Time, Memories of Midnight
Memories of Midnight
Memories of Midnight , sometimes known as The other side of midnight is a 1990 novel written by Sidney Sheldon. It is a sequel to Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight.-Plot summary:...
, and The Stars Shine Down
The Stars Shine Down
The Stars Shine Down is a 1992 novel by Sidney Sheldon.-Plot summary:The novel tells the story of Lara Cameron, a successful real estate developer who came from a broken family in Nova Scotia. Lara's mother dies in childbirth and her Scottish father doesn't want her. Early in life, she learns to...
as mini-series, which he also produced, and wrote his first book, Next to Hughes with Robert Maheu
Robert Maheu
Robert Aime Maheu was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI, CIA and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.-Biography:...
.
Since leaving Dove, Hack moved to a horse ranch in Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, where he stabled polo ponies, and established a home on the Intracoastal in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
His bestseller Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters was released on September 11, 2001. Hack was being interviewed live on the Today show by Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
His subsequent book, PuppetMaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover is being made into a feature film by HBO Films
HBO Films
HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films' output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the mini-series Band of Brothers, Pacific, Generation Kill and Angels in...
.
Published works
- 1991: Scanners II: The New Order (writing as Professor Janus Kimball)
- 1993: Next to Hughes (with Robert MaheuRobert MaheuRobert Aime Maheu was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI, CIA and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.-Biography:...
) - 1994: Richard Hack’s Home Video Companion for Parents
- 1994: Unfinished Lives
- 1995: LoveMates: An Astrological Guide to Romance
- 1995: The Dinosaur Who Wouldn't Brush His Teeth (writing as Dr. Dandelion)
- 1995: Jackson Family Values (with Margaret Maldanado Jackson)
- 1995: Memories of Madison County (with Jana St. James)
- 1996: Waffle the Bear's Amazing Adventure (writing as Dr. Dandelion)
- 1996: Your Life: An Owner’s Manual
- 1997: When Money Is King: How Revlon's Ron Perlman Mastered the World of Finance to Create One of America's Greatest Business Empires, and Found Glamour, Beauty, and the High Life in the Bargain
- 1998: Open House
- 2000: Madness in the Morning: Life and Death in TV's Early Morning Ratings War
- 2001: Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters
- 2002: Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted TurnerTed TurnerRobert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
and Rupert MurdochRupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
Has Created Global Empires That Control What We Read and Watch - 2004: PuppetMaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover
- 2009: Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie
The Aviator misattribution
It is sometimes stated that Hack's book Hughes served as the basis for Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's 2004 film about Howard Hughes, The Aviator.
However, two competing films about Hughes were in development at the same time. The other film was to have been directed by Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
, with star Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
and financing from Castle Rock
Castle Rock
-Islands:*Castle Rock , an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska*Castle Rock, Hong Kong , an island of Hong Kong, part of the Po Toi Islands*Castle Rock , an island in the U.S...
. Its script was going to be based on Hack's biography. That film was never produced.