Jay Cocks

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's 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. De Palma and Cocks did however contribute in part with helping George Lucas with the narrative crawl that opens the 1977 film Star Wars.

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

References

References

1. [http://www.kenyon.edu/x1135.xml Some Notable Alumni] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-06-14 , kenyon.edu; accessed August 28, 2015.)
2. Vincent Canby. (1993-09-17). "Review/Film: The Age of Innocence; Grand Passions and Good Manners". [[The New York Times]].
3. A.O. Scott. (2002-12-20). "Gangs of New York - FILM REVIEW; To Feel A City Seethe". Movies.nytimes.com.
4. (2013). "Jay Cocks' filmography". [[The New York Times]].
5. (14 September 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair.
6. (August 20, 2017). "Brian De Palma's lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant's unfilmed final case".
7. (December 12, 2016). "The Origin of the Crawl".
8. Sandomir, Richard. (January 11, 2019). "Verna Bloom, 80, Amorous Dean's Wife in 'Animal House,' Dies". The New York Times.
9. (October 31, 1999). "Ageing bulls return". [[The Guardian]].
10. Dudar, Helen. (July 27, 1980). "The Master Of Mayhem". [[The Washington Post]].
11. Brennan, Judy. (May 1, 1994). "What a Concept: Joel Silver Meets Joan of Arc". [[Los Angeles Times]].
12. Madigan, Nick. (May 7, 1998). "MGM, DePalma in suspense".
13. Madigan, Nick. (May 11, 1998). "De Palma, MGM mine 'Gold'".
14. Jagernauth, Kevin. (August 27, 2010). "Brad Pitt & Scott Cooper Linked To 'Brownsville Girl' Based On The Song By Bob Dylan, Adapted By Jay Cocks".
15. Yossman, K. J.. (February 10, 2023). "'The Last of the Savages' Adaptation Greenlit as APX Group Inks First-Option Deal With XIIIthirteen Co (EXCLUSIVE)".