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Anna Thomas

b. 1948

American film writer, film producer and cookbook author

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About Anna Thomas

Born 1948. Anna Thomas is an American and German screenwriter, film producer, writer, cookbook writer and producer.

Anna Thomas (born July 12, 1948) is a German-born American author, screenwriter, and film producer. She is best known as the author of the 1972 cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure, which was highly influential vegetarian cookbook. She is currently discipline head of the Screenwriting department at the American Film Institute.

Background Anna Thomas wrote The Vegetarian Epicure (1972) while still a film student at UCLA. It had a strong impact on the natural foods movement within the American counterculture.

She made The Haunting of M, her thesis film for her master's degree, in Scotland. It was well received by film critics as well as shown at film festivals and art houses.

Thomas married director and producer Gregory Nava in 1975.

Cookbooks The Vegetarian Epicure, Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, 305 pages The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two, Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, 401 pages The New Vegetarian Epicure, Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, 450 pages Love Soup, W.W. Norton & Company, 2009, 528 pages Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore: Dinner for Everyone at the Table, W.W. Norton & Company, 2016, 496 pages

Screenwriting filmography The Confessions of Amans (1976) The Haunting of M (1979), also produced The End of August (1981) El Norte (1983), also produced A Time of Destiny (1988), also produced My Family/Mi Familia (1995), also produced Frida (2002)

Film and writing nominations Academy Awards: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for El Norte (1983) Writers Guild of America: Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for El Norte (1983) James Beard Foundation Award: Cooking, Recipes, or Instruction (article) for "The Soup for Life: Eating Well (2012)

Nominated James Beard Foundation Award: Vegetarian, for The New Vegetarian Epicure: Menus for Families and Friends (1997)

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Important facts

Birth century
Education
University of California, Los Angeles

People in Anna Thomas's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Anna Thomas's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Anna Thomas?

American film writer, film producer and cookbook author

When was Anna Thomas born?

Anna Thomas was born on 12 July 1948 in Stuttgart.

What is Anna Thomas's occupation?

Anna Thomas is a screenwriter, film producer, writer, cookbook writer and producer.

What nationality is Anna Thomas?

Anna Thomas is American and German.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Anna Thomas

· Wikidata: Q4241703

· DBpedia: Anna Thomas

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Anna Thomas. https://biography.guide/anna-thomas-screenwriter/

MLA: "Anna Thomas." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/anna-thomas-screenwriter/.

Chicago: "Anna Thomas." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/anna-thomas-screenwriter/.

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