Tom Jankiewicz

Thomas Anthony Jankiewicz (September 8, 1963 – January 23, 2013) was an American screenwriter. He was best known for writing the 1997 film Grosse Pointe Blank, starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, and Dan Aykroyd, which tells the story of an assassin who returns to his hometown for his 10-year high school reunion.

Biography

Early life Jankiewicz's mother, Marilyn, was a nurse, while his father, Anthony, was an engineer with Chrysler. He picked the film's title, "Grosse Pointe Blank", while substitute teaching for an English class at Upland High School by writing the title on the classroom's whiteboard to see how it would look on a movie theater.

Jankiewicz was finishing a novel at the time of his death. He was also near the completion of a new film script based on the 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash.

Death

On January 23, 2013, Jankiewicz attended a screening of Grosse Pointe Blank held at his brothers' alma mater, California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) at the invitation of Professor James C. Kaufman. Kaufman called him that morning to invite him to attend the class that evening. The screening was attended by approximately seventy-five students of Kaufman's "Psychology and the Movies." Jankiewicz collapsed during a question-and-answer session held after the film. He was rushed to Community Hospital of San Bernardino, where he was pronounced dead at 10:51 p.m. at the age of 49. He was a resident of Upland, California.