Harry Thomason
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Harry Z. Thomason, (born 1940), is an American film and television producer and director best known for his television series Designing Women. Thomason and his wife Linda Bloodworth-Thomason were friends of President Bill Clinton and played a major role in his election campaigns.
Harry Z. Thomason was born in Hampton, Arkansas, the son of a Baptist Deacon. He was a Little Rock, Arkansas high school speech teacher and football coach.
In 1983 Thomason and his wife formed Mozark Productions which was the vehicle for several successful television series including Designing Women and Evening Shade.
Thomason was a close friend of Bill Clinton and produced the glowing biographical film The Man from Hope which was the centerpiece of the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Thomason and his partner Darnell Martens provided charter air service for the Clinton campaign and served as an image consultant.
After Clinton was elected Thomason became embroiled in the Travelgate scandal. His partner Martens reported that he had heard rumors that the White House Travel Office was corrupt and disloyal to the Clintons. This view of the Travel Office was compounded by a series of leaks at the White House unfavorable to the Clintons. Thomason began pressing Hillary Clinton to clean out the travel office. The resulting firings resulted in a great deal of negative press coverage and an investigation of the events surrounding it including Thomason and Martens' air service.
Thomason served as co-chairmen of the 1992 Presidential Inauguration Committee and once again worked as an image consultant at the beginning of the Lewinsky scandal. Thomason ended up testifying before the Lewinsky Grand Jury.
Television Credits
- Designing Women - Director and Executive Producer
- Emeril - Director and Executive Producer
- Evening Shade - Director
- Hearts Afire - Writer, Director, Executive Producer
- Lime Street - Executive Producer
- The Fall Guy - Writer
- Women of the House - Director, Producer, Executive Producer
Motion Picture Credits
- A Shining Season - Producer
- Encounter with the Unknown - Writer, Director
- Revenge of Bigfoot - Director, Producer
- So Sad About Gloria - Director, Producer
- The Blue and the Gray - Producer
- The Day it Came to Earth - Director, Executive Producer
- The Designing Women Reunion - Director
- The Great Lester Boggs - Director
- The Man From Hope - Director
- To Find My Son - Producer
Quotes
- "When you're in the political realm, you become a public figure, and anything is fair."
Adapted from the article Harry Thomason (http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.phtml?title=Harry_Thomason), from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.