Born in Yugoslavia, Tesich was 14 when he came to America and settled in East Chicago, Indiana. His father, a machinist, died in 1962. He graduated from Indiana University in 1965 and did graduate work at Columbia University where he began to write plays. 'Breaking Away (1979)' won Tesich an Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination. He successfully ...
[on living in England]: It's such a rigid class structure there. If you have a name of a certain kind, it almost opens doors for you without meaning that you have some intrinsic merit to go through that door.
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Fact
1
He was awarded the 1980 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting for "Division Street" at the Mark Taper Forum Theater in Los Angeles, California.
2
In 1962, he was was an alternate rider for the Phi Kappa Psi team in the Little 500 bicycle race. His teammate, Dave Blase, rode 139 of 200 laps and was the victory rider crossing the finish line for his team. They developed a friendship and Dave provided the inspiration for the main character in Tesich's award-winning screenplay, "Breaking Away(1979)".
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Eleni
1985
screenplay
American Flyers
1985
written by
The World According to Garp
1982
screenplay
Four Friends
1981
Eyewitness
1981
Breaking Away
TV Series created by - 7 episodes, 1980 - 1981 story - 1 episode, 1981 written by - 1 episode, 1980
Breaking Away
1979
written by
Apple Pie
1978
TV Series characters
Nourish the Beast
1974
TV Movie play
The Carpenters
1973
TV Movie play
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Breaking Away
1980-1981
TV Series executive story consultant - 5 episodes
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Great Performances: Dance in America
1990
TV Series
Himself
Late Night with David Letterman
1982
TV Series
Himself
The 52nd Annual Academy Awards
1980
TV Special
Himself - Best Original Screenplay Winner
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 69th Annual Academy Awards
1997
TV Special
Himself - Memorial Tribute
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1981
ALFS Award
London Critics Circle Film Awards
Screenwriter of the Year
Breaking Away (1979)
1980
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
$13 Million
