Jay Cocks

John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.^[1] He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before shifting to screenplay writing.^[1] Cocks married actress Verna Bloom in 1972. Bloom, with Cocks, had a son, Sam. Bloom died in 2019.^[2] They had a son, Sam, born in 1981.

As a screenwriter, he is notable for his collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, particularly The Age of Innocence^[3] and Gangs of New York^[4] — a screenplay he started working on in 1976 — as well as Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7] De Palma and Cocks did however contribute to the writing of the narrative crawl that opens the 1977 film Star Wars.^[8]

^ ^a ^b Some Notable Alumni Archived 2013-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, kenyon.edu; accessed August 28, 2015.
^ Sandomir, Richard (January 11, 2019). "Verna Bloom, 80, Amorous Dean's Wife in 'Animal House,' Dies". The New York Times.
^ Vincent Canby (1993-09-17). "Review/Film: The Age of Innocence; Grand Passions and Good Manners". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^ A.O. Scott (2002-12-20). "Gangs of New York - FILM REVIEW; To Feel A City Seethe". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^ "Jay Cocks' filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
^ Schulman, Michael (14 September 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
^ "Brian De Palma's lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant's unfilmed final case". The Columbophile Blog. August 20, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
^ "The Origin of the Crawl". Force Material. December 12, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2023.

[kenyon-1] Some Notable Alumni Archived 2013-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, kenyon.edu; accessed August 28, 2015.

[2] Sandomir, Richard (January 11, 2019). "Verna Bloom, 80, Amorous Dean's Wife in 'Animal House,' Dies". The New York Times.

[3] Vincent Canby (1993-09-17). "Review/Film: The Age of Innocence; Grand Passions and Good Manners". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-18.

[4] A.O. Scott (2002-12-20). "Gangs of New York - FILM REVIEW; To Feel A City Seethe". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-18.

[5] "Jay Cocks' filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2012-05-18.

[Runner-6] Schulman, Michael (14 September 2017). "The Battle for Blade Runner". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 15 September 2017.

[columbophile.com-7] "Brian De Palma's lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant's unfilmed final case". The Columbophile Blog. August 20, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2023.

[8] "The Origin of the Crawl". Force Material. December 12, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2023.

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