James Toback is a famous screenwriter who has several films including documentaries to his name. Read on for more insight into his life, career, and net worth.

Who Is James Toback?

James Toback is a native New Yorker who studied at Harvard University in the 60s. He became a journalist for some magazine companies after he graduated from Harvard University. In the early 70s, Toback taught creative writing in New York. Thereafter, he changed his career into screenwriting. James Toback gained fame after he wrote a Globe Award screenplay Bugsy. He has also written and directed hit movies of different genres including Seduced and Abandoned, Two Girls and a Guy, The Pick up Artist, When Will I Be Loved, and Black and White among others. James Toback is an Award-winning screenplay writer who has written and directed blockbuster films.

James Toback’s Early Life

The Award-winning Bugsy writer was the proud son of Selma Judith and Irwin Lionel Toback. His parents were from a Jewish ancestry. He was born on November 23, 1944, in New York. His mother Selma Judith was the leader of the League of Women Voters as well as an NBC Political Debates mediator. His father Irwin Toback was the former vice-president of Dreyfus and Company. After his father retired from his work, he became a stockbroker. The famous screenwriter used to dance on a Rock and Roll show on Alan Freed when he was 14 years old. James Toback attended Fieldstone School and graduated in 1963. Thereafter, he joined Harvard University, graduated in 1966 magna cum laude. While in Harvard College, Toback consumed a drug known as LSD. He remained under the influence of the drug for almost a week. Toback was later given an antidote. Since then James Toback has no fear of dying.

The Award Winning Screenwriter James Toback’s Career and Net Worth

After Toback graduated from Harvard College, he found a position as a journalist for several magazine companies. He continued juggling between works but the Esquire magazine company later hired him. Toback was given his first assignment by Esquire to write about a famous football player Jim Brown. James Toback had to live with the player for several years. He wrote his living experience with the footballer called Jim: The Author’s Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown. During his time living with the famous football player, he decided he wanted more in his life. In the early 70s, James Toback started teaching creative writing at a college in New York City. His years as a teacher made Toback write his first screenplay known as Gambler. The Gambler is an American crime drama movie. The film was first debuted in 1974. Much of the Gambler film was cast in the college he taught. Toback based this film on his own life experience as a gambler. After Toback’s first screenplay in the film industry, he started gathering his net worth fortune. This experience made Toback continue screenwriting. In 1978, James Toback Directed and re-wrote a drama film called Fingers. Fingers was a rewrite of the film The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Jacques Audiard first produced it. After his first directorial debut, Toback screen wrote and directed the American drama film Love and Money in 1982. He also co-produced the film alongside Richard McWhorter. He further wrote and directed another American drama called Exposed in the subsequent years. Apart from screenwriting and directing the play, Toback also produced it. By this time, James Toback had gained experience in screenwriting, producing, and directing. He was widely recognized in the film industry as a talented screenwriter, producer, and director. In 1987, Toback screen wrote and directed The Pick-up Artist. James Toback co-produced the Pick-up Artist alongside David MacLeod. The Pick-up Artist is a TV reality series of the romantic-comedy genre. The main cast members of The Pick-up Artist were Molly Ringwald, Robert Downey, and Dennis Hopper among others. The Pick-up Artist gathered $13 million at the Box Office when it was released. The screenwriter Toback further landed another opportunity to direct a documentary film called The Big Bang in 1989. James Toback was among the stars of The Big Bang. He starred alongside Anne Marie Keyes and Tony Sirico among others. Joseph Kanter produced the Big Bang documentary.

James Toback’s Career Highlights and Net Worth

The American screenwriter was globally recognized after screenwriting the film Bugsy in 1991. Bugsy is of the American crime-drama genre. Mark Johnson and Barry Levison produced Bugsy, and Warren Beatty directed it. After the release of the Bugsy film in the Box Office, it garnered $49 million. James Toback based the Bugsy film from the 1967 book called We Only Kill Each Other. After the release of Bugsy, it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture Motion. The film also received a nomination for Ten Academy Awards not forgetting an Award for the Best Original Screenplay. Toback’s part in this film made him win Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also won the same Award from the readers of Premiere Magazine. The American screenwriter was able to accumulate a handsome net worth after winning awards due to major work on the Bugsy film. After Toback’s major screen write film, Two Girls and a Guy followed thereafter. Two Girls and a Guy is of American comedy-drama genre, which was written and directed by James Toback. Edward R. Pressman and Chris Haney produced Two Girls and a Guy. The film’s main stars were Robert Downey Jr, Heather Graham, and Natasha Gregson Wagner. Two Girls and a Guy made $2 million at the Box Office. The film received mixed comments from the film critics. James Toback did not stop there. He took his career to another level by collaborating with Wu-Tang Clan who is a screenwriter and film director. The duo wrote and directed the Black and White film in 1999. Daniel Bigel, Michael Mailer, Ron Rotholz, and Edward Pressman produced the film. Black and White is an American crime TV series drama movie. The main stars of Black and White drama were Robert Downey Jr and Gaby Hoffman. Black and White grossed $5 million at the Box Office. James Toback also wrote and directed Harvard Man. This crime-comedy-drama thriller was released in 2001. Adrian Grenier and Sarah Michelle Gellar were among the cast members of Harvard Man film. The film was not popular. However, Harvard Man became successful when it was released in videos. In the early millennium, Toback wrote and directed another film called When Will I Be Loved. Ron Rotholz produced the film. ‘When Will I Be Loved,’ an American drama movie. The main stars of When Will I Be Loved were Neve Campbell, Fred Weller, and Alex Feldma. The film ‘When Will I Be Loved’ received several positive and negative reviews from the film critics. By the year 2008, James Toback had created his name in the film industry. He landed another opportunity to direct a Tyson documentary. Tyson documentary involves the life and experiences of the former boxer and heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson. Nicholas Jarecki, Bob Yari, and Carmelo Anthony who is an NBA player produced the documentary. In 2013, James Toback and Alec Baldwin teamed up to release a documentary film called Seduced and Abandoned. James Toback wrote and directed the film. Alec Baldwin was among the producers of the film. Seduced and Abandoned is based on how the movies are funded. The Seduced and Abandoned documentary premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in the mid-year of 2013. It received many positive comments from the critics of Seduced and Abandoned movie. The latest work of James Toback was in the year 2017 when he wrote and directed an American drama film The Private Life of a Modern Woman. Sienna Miller and Alec Baldwin were the main stars of the drama film.

The Screenwriter’s Sexual Allegations

A dozen women have filed sexual charges against James Toback. The women claimed that Toback sexually harassed them after calling them for a film audition. It is widely known that the famous screenwriter lurked in the streets of Manhattan in search of young beautiful women. The women were in their mid-20s or even younger. He approached them while the young women were attending to their business. Some of the women were in search of jobs. Toback is recognized as the Pick up Artist, a name from one of the films he wrote. His pick up lines were his greatest achievements in his professional career as well as the famous people he has worked alongside them. Therefore, he claimed that he could make the young women film stars. Of course, the job-seeking women fell for it. Toback would even remove proof of who he is. Therefore, he would ask for something in return that is, sleeping with them in order to know them better. The sexual ordeals took place in hotel rooms, in movie trailers, public parks, and in fake movie auditions. This became Toback’s trend. The sexual charges included how Toback would ask humiliating questions and how he would behave in front of the women. The women claimed that once James Toback was done, the film interview would be over. Toback has received sexual charges from countless women he has hired over the decades. None of the women who had been sexually harassed came forward at the time. Toback denied his sexual charges when asked by the police. He claimed that he has had diabetes and a heart condition for the past 22 years hence, making it impossible to indulge in such behavior. The sexually harassed women all claimed that they all felt like prostitutes and deeply humiliated. Some felt broken. After the 38 women came forward with the sexual charges against Toback, other 200 women came forward with similar allegations.

The Screenwriter’s Personal Life

James Toback married his first wife in the 60s. She was Consuelo Sarah Churchill Vanderbilt Russell. Sarah was the granddaughter of the 10th Duke of Marlborough called John Spencer-Churchill. The couple divorced years later. The famous screenwriter is currently married to Stephanie Kempf. The duo has been blessed with a son. In 2017, James Toback received sexual charges from 38 women. They claimed how Toback had humiliated them when they were in dire need of a working opportunity in the film industry. The screenwriter has been nicknamed as a Pick up Artist who picks up desperate women in need of jobs. The Pick up Artist is a film he wrote years back. This name has apparently come back to haunt him as he has faced several charges where he is accused of manipulating women sexually.

The Screenwriter’s Awards and Achievements

• Toback was nominated for an Oscar Academy Award for the Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 1992 for the Bugsy film. • He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1992 for the Best Screenplay Motion Picture for Bugsy film. • James Toback received a nomination for the Black Reel Awards for the Best Documentary, Tyson, in 2010. • He won the Cannes Film Festival for the Regard Knockout Award in 2008 for the documentary film Tyson. He also received a nomination for the Un Certain Regard Award for the same film as well. • James Toback received a nomination for the Cinema Eye Awards for Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize. • Toback received a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Screenplay in 1992 for the Bugsy film. • He was nominated for Deauville Film Festivals for the Critics Awards in 1989 because of The Big Bang film. • Toback was nominated for the Gotham Awards for Best Documentary for the Tyson documentary in 2009. • He won the German Independence Honorary Award in 2008. • He won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for Best Screenplay. Toback received a nomination for National Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Screenplay for the same film Bugsy.

Facts to Know About the Screenwriter Toback

1. James Toback has been accused of sexually harassing women, some of them being actresses, rock stars and other women. James Toback received sexual charges from 38 women. Thirty-one women out of 38 have spoken on the record accusing him of sexually harassing them. The famous Bugsy screenwriter has denied all the sexual allegations. He claims he has been suffering from diabetes and a heart condition for 22 years. Therefore, he is incapable of indulging in such behavior. Toback has been accused before in 1989 being a womanizer. The famous screenwriter was heard bragging how he was the director of women. 2. James Toback is a talented screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is an author as well as an essayist. Toback has received several nominations for his work in the film Bugsy. He has also written and directed other films including Seduced and Abandoned, Two Girls and a Guy, The Pick-up Artist, When Will I Be Loved, and Black and White among others. 3. James Toback has been nominated once for an Oscar Award. He has received three wins and nine nominations. 4. His greatest achievement came when he screen wrote the Bugsy film and the Tyson documentary. 5. James Toback worked as a magazine journalist after graduating from Harvard College. 6. He lived for several years with the famous Jim Brown who was a football player. He was given the assignment to write a memoir about the football player. 7. James Toback was born and raised in New York. 8. James Toback is a compulsive gambler. He still struggles with gambling. He also consumed LSD drug when he was in college and lasted eight days under the drug’s influence. 9. He was accused of being a womanizer in 1989 in a magazine called Spy. 10. Toback’s birth date is the same as Joe Eszterhas’. 11. He cast Jim Brown the football player in one of his film namely The Fingers. 12. Toback was uncredited script doctor in the film Bad Boys in 1995, Crimson Tide in 1995 and on Disclosure in 1994.

James Toback‘s Net Worth

The 74-year-old screenwriter has accumulated a net worth totaling $10 million. He has worked hard for five decades to create his name in the film industry. Toback’s net worth has been due to his major work in the Bugsy film and the Tyson documentary. He has also worked in other major hit films and documentaries such as Seduced and Abandoned, Two Girls and a Guy, The Pick-up Artist, When Will I Be Loved, Black and White, The Big Bang among others. He is among the richest celebrity alive with such an enormous net worth. Despite his sexual charges, he is a talented screenwriter, producer, director, author, and essayist. James Toback has based all his works on his life experiences. He has done well with his 74 years as a screenwriter, director, and producer. His enormous net worth is the living proof of how hard he has worked for five decades. He is a living legend in Hollywood film industry.