John C. " Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.[ Some Notable Alumni , kenyon.edu; accessed August 28, 2015.] He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before shifting to screenplay writing.
Career
As a screenwriter, he is notable for his collaborations with director
Martin Scorsese, particularly
The Age of Innocence and
Gangs of New York — a screenplay he started working on in 1976 — as well as
Kathryn Bigelow's
Strange Days.
He did an uncredited rewrite of
James Cameron screenplay for
Titanic and was, with Scorsese, the co-screenwriter of
Silence. Cocks and Scorsese approached author Philip K. Dick in 1969 for an adaptation of his 1968 novel
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Though the duo never optioned the book, it was later developed into the movie
Blade Runner by screenwriter
Hampton Fancher and director
Ridley Scott.
Under the pseudonym "Joseph P. Gillis", Cocks and filmmaker Brian De Palma wrote a spec script for the crime drama television series Columbo in 1973. Their teleplay, titled "Shooting Script", was never filmed.
Personal life
Cocks married actress
Verna Bloom in 1972. Bloom, with Cocks, had a son, Sam, born in 1981. Bloom died in 2019.
Filmography
Unproduced projects
-
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1969) – Script for Martin Scorsese
-
"Shooting Script" (1973) – Unproduced Columbo teleplay (under the pseudonym Joseph P. Gillis)
-
Night Life (1978) – Script for Martin Scorsese
-
Untitled satirical comedy (1980) – Script for Brian De Palma
-
The Company of Angels (1994) – Script for Kathryn Bigelow
-
Ambrose Chapel (1998) – Script for Brian De Palma
-
Nazi Gold (1998) – Script for Brian De Palma
-
Brownsville Girl (2010) – Script for Scott Cooper
-
The Last of the Savages (2023) – Adaptation of the novel
Awards and nominations
|
|
| BAFTA Awards | Best Original Screenplay | |
| Writers Guild of America | Best Original Screenplay | |
|
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Adapted Screenplay | |
|
| BAFTA Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | |
| Writers Guild of America | Best Adapted Screenplay | |
|
External links
