Peter Hyams Biography

An alumnus of Syracuse University and Hunter College, director/writer Peter Hyams entered show business as a CBS TV newscaster. His first feature film assignment was T.R. Baskin (1971), which he wrote and produced. His maiden directorial efforts were the well-received TV movies The Rolling Man and Goodnight My Love, both broadcast in 1972. The films Hyams has directed for theatrical release have included such slick, satisfying fare as Busting (1974) (which stirred up negative publicity with its alleged anti-gay stance), Peeper (1976) and Telefon (1976). Perhaps his best film work was concentrated in the Alan Pakula/ Oliver Stone school of sociopolitical paranoia: Capricorn One (1978) and The Star Chamber (1983). Much castigated for "daring" to follow Stanley Kubrick's 2001 with the only fitfully successful sequel 2010 (1983), Hyams exhibited a considerable amount of directorial skill in glossing over the plot holes that he himself, as screenwriter, concocted (he also handled the photography on 2010, again doing a better job than many critics would admit). Among Hyams' most recent films are Stay Tuned (1992), a satire of cable TV, and Timecop (1994), a futuristic actioner. - Hal Erickson, Rovi

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