Bill (1981 film)

1981 film directed by Anthony Page

Bill

Genre| Biography
Drama
Written by| Corey Blechman
Story by| Barry Morrow
Directed by| Anthony Page
Starring| Mickey Rooney
Dennis Quaid
Largo Woodruff
Anna Maria Horsford
Harry Goz
Theme music composer| William Kraft
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
Production
Executive producers| Alan Landsburg
Bernard Sofronski
Producer| Mel Stuart
Production locations| New York City
Yonkers, New York
College of Mount Saint Vincent
Cinematography| Mike Fash
Editor| George Hively
Running time| 100 minutes
Production company| Alan Landsburg Productions
Original release
Network| CBS
Release| December 22, 1981 (1981-12-22)

Bill is a 1981 American made-for-television biographical drama film starring Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid based on the life of Bill Sackter.[1][2] The film was broadcast on CBS on December 22, 1981.[3] A sequel, Bill: On His Own, was released in 1983.[4] Writer/filmmaker Barry Morrow, portrayed in the film by Dennis Quaid, based the story on his life experiences with Sackter, and later became his legal guardian. Sackter, who did not have autism, would also serve as a partial inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbitt in Morrow's early draft screenplay for the 1988 film Rain Man.

## Awards

[edit]

Mickey Rooney won an Emmy Award and Golden Globe for his performance, and the film also received a Golden Globe for Best TV Film.[5][6]

## Premise

[edit]

Bill is a man with an intellectual disability in his 60s. He ventures out into the world for the first time after spending most of his life at Grandville, a dreary inner city institution in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since age seven (when his mother sent him there). Bill is taken in by a kind family and learns what it means to love for the first time in his life.

## Cast

[edit]

* Mickey Rooney \- Bill Sackter
* Dennis Quaid \- Barry Morrow
* Largo Woodruff \- Beverly Morrow
* Anna Maria Horsford \- Marge Keating
* Harry Goz \- Dr. Tom Walz
* Kathleen Maguire \- Florence Archer

## See also

[edit]

* Film within a film
* Rain Man

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Bill (1981)". BFI. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017.
2. ^ "Bill (1981) - Anthony Page | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
3. ^ Marill, Alvin H. (November 23, 2004). Mickey Rooney: His Films, Television Appearances, Radio Work, Stage Shows, and Recordings. McFarland. ISBN 9780786420155 – via Google Books.
4. ^ "Bill: On His Own (1983)". BFI. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017.
5. ^ "Nominees / Winners 1982".
6. ^ "Bill".

## External links

[edit]

* The Bill Sackter Story official website
* Bill at IMDb

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Films directed by Anthony Page

* Inadmissible Evidence (1968)
* Pueblo (1973)
* The Missiles of October (1974)
* F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1975)
* Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (1976)
* I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
* Absolution (1978)
* The Lady Vanishes (1979)
* Bill (1981)
* Grace Kelly (1983)
* Bill: On His Own (1983)
* Forbidden (1984)
* Second Serve (1986)
* Monte Carlo (1986)
* Scandal in a Small Town (1988)
* The Nightmare Years (1989)
* Chernobyl: The Final Warning (1991)
* Silent Cries (1993)
* Middlemarch (1994)
* My Zinc Bed (2008)

* v
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Golden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film

1971–2000|

* The Snow Goose (1971)
* That Certain Summer (1972)
* Babe (1975)
* Eleanor and Franklin (1976)
* Raid on Entebbe (1977)
* A Family Upside Down (1978)
* All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
* The Shadow Box (1980)
* Bill / East of Eden (1981)
* Brideshead Revisited (1982)
* The Thorn Birds (1983)
* Something About Amelia (1984)
* The Jewel in the Crown (1985)
* Promise (1986)
* Escape from Sobibor / Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987)
* War and Remembrance (Parts I—VII) (1988)
* Lonesome Dove (1989)
* Decoration Day (1990)
* One Against the Wind (1991)
* Sinatra (1992)
* Barbarians at the Gate (1993)
* The Burning Season (1994)
* Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
* Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996)
* George Wallace (1997)
* From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
* RKO 281 (1999)
* Dirty Pictures (2000)

2001–present|

* Band of Brothers (2001)
* The Gathering Storm (2002)
* Angels in America (2003)
* The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
* Empire Falls (2005)
* Elizabeth I (2006)
* Longford (2007)
* John Adams (2008)
* Grey Gardens (2009)
* Carlos (2010)
* Downton Abbey (series 1) (2011)
* Game Change (2012)
* Behind the Candelabra (2013)
* Fargo (season 1) (2014)
* Wolf Hall (2015)
* The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016)
* Big Little Lies (2017)
* The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018)
* Chernobyl (2019)
* The Queen's Gambit (2020)
* The Underground Railroad (2021)
* The White Lotus (season 2) (2022)
* Beef (2023)
* Baby Reindeer (2024)

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