Director Of ‘Billy Jack’ Passes Away

By Aaron Pero

Sun Dec 15th, 2013 3:16pm America/Los_Angeles

NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Laughlin, whose production, marketing and making of “Billy Jack” set a standard for breaking the rules on and off screen, has died.

Laughlin’s daughter told The Associated Press that he died Thursday at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Laughlin was 82 and Teresa Laughlin says the cause of death was complications from pneumonia.

“Billy Jack” was released in 1971 after a long struggle by Laughlin to gain control of the film.

He wrote, directed and produced “Billy Jack” and starred as the ex-Green Beret who defends a progressive school against the racists of a conservative Western community. The film became a counterculture favorite and the theme song, “One Tin Solider,” was a hit single for the rock group Coven.

I do like the yahoo write up that states that, "He made movies HIS way." Guess everyone has been doing it wrong for decades.

" i'm gonna take this foot, and kick you in the face right there..."

somethin to that effect. a priceless line.

of course most folks round here wouldn't know the significants of tom makin that movie his way

at the time he did it. an anti war/ anti establisment movie isn't something grasped by todays mind. i guess people tend to think that things are the way they are today 'just because' they are.

case in point. i said there would be no billy jack bitch, without BILLY JACK. what's the first response you see???

Rest In Peace Tom.

go ahead, hate your neighbor,

go ahead and cheat a friend

if you do it in the name of heaven

you can justify it in the end

there won't be any trumpets blowing

on the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

one tin soldier rides away

XxAxX said:

go ahead, hate your neighbor,

go ahead and cheat a friend

if you do it in the name of heaven

you can justify it in the end

there won't be any trumpets blowing

on the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

one tin soldier rides away

Oh man, I LOVED the Billy Jack movies. Tom Laughlin was awesome.

"In four seconds, I am going to kick you on the side of your face. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it." BOOM!

R.I.P.

Seeing Billy Jack movies at the DRIVE IN! Oh yeah, that's my badass childhood!

RIP

RodeoSchro said:

Oh man, I LOVED the Billy Jack movies. Tom Laughlin was awesome.

"In four seconds, I am going to kick you on the side of your face. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it." BOOM!

R.I.P.

YOU KNOW!!!

KingBAD said:

RodeoSchro said:

Oh man, I LOVED the Billy Jack movies. Tom Laughlin was awesome.

"In four seconds, I am going to kick you on the side of your face. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it." BOOM!

R.I.P.

YOU KNOW!!!

You better believe it!

I saw "The Born Losers", "Billy Jack" and "The Trial of Billy Jack" but I don't remember seeing "Billy Jack Goes to Washington".

I had the biggest crush in the WORLD on his daughter, Teresa. She was in "Billy Jack".

Check out this interview from David Roya, the guy who played Bernard in "Billy Jack". Here's how he got the part, from an audition at Tom Laughlin's house:

David: Right. So we were doing a take off on that scene [the ice cream store scene], and the girl who eventually [played Kit], who was one of his students, made it real when she was made to hit me. She really hit me in the ear and I said “You do that again and I’m gonna punch you right in the mouth.” So Laughlin came in and he said something and I’m in the role, but I’m also angry that she hit me. I mean, that’s not acting. She didn’t need to hit me. He said something and I said something to him like “Shut the hell up” or something. I don’t know what I said, but next thing I knew I’m down on the ground and he’s on top of me and ripped my shirt and was trying to punch me. I was blocking the punches and he was going insane. And he said “Get out of my house’ and he throws me out of the house. He comes and throws my jacket at me. My shirt is ripped up. I’m scratched up and I think I’m bleeding and he’s outside of the door and I said “Boy, that was some good acting Tom.” He said “What? You were acting?” I said “Of course. Weren’t you?” He said “No! I was trying to kill you!” I said “What the hell?” He said “That was the greatest acting I’d ever seen in my life!” So I said “Do I have the part?” He said “Yeah, you got the part, but don’t say anything yet.” So that was kind of what I had in store for me. This kind of guy.



Great interview! Check it out: http://popcultureaddict.c...droya-htm/

So I learn new things every day..........


(never heard about Billy Jack untill this thread)

Am I the only one that thought this was going to be a thread about that columnist CJ?

XxAxX said:

go ahead, hate your neighbor,

go ahead and cheat a friend

if you do it in the name of heaven

you can justify it in the end

there won't be any trumpets blowing

on the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

one tin soldier rides away

Oh wow, I remember that song from my childhood. Old school!

psychodelicide said:

XxAxX said:

go ahead, hate your neighbor,

go ahead and cheat a friend

if you do it in the name of heaven

you can justify it in the end

there won't be any trumpets blowing

on the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

one tin soldier rides away

Oh wow, I remember that song from my childhood. Old school!

now you know where it came from

KingBAD said:

psychodelicide said:

Oh wow, I remember that song from my childhood. Old school!

now you know where it came from

Yes, I do. I didn't know that until now.

Don't forget these:

You all forgot about the first film, the Born Losers:

My dad took me to see Billy Jack in the theatre, shows my age. It was a pg film but had two moments of topless nudity, a good thing for a growing boy. lol

Anyone remember the fake robbery scene in the park? lol..

Byron said:

Anyone remember the fake robbery scene in the park? lol..

whut do you want from 'johnny fever'

Sorry off topic but that WKRP clip brought this gem back, for the Holidays...

I'm old but this still kills me...

Slave2daGroove said:

Sorry off topic but that WKRP clip brought this gem back, for the Holidays...

I'm old but this still kills me...

EXCELENT CHOICE!!!