Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator, and activist.

His unique promotion of The Trial of Billy Jack (TV trailers during national news and an "opening day" nationwide release) was a major influence on the way films are marketed.

[2] In the early 1960s, Laughlin put his film career on hiatus to start a Montessori preschool in Santa Monica, California; it became the largest school of its kind in the United States.

[9] According to a 1956 newspaper interview, he became involved in the drama program at Marquette after being encouraged by a university professor, Father John J.

Laughlin wrote the original screenplay for the film Billy Jack in 1954, after witnessing the treatment of Native Americans in his wife's hometown, Winner, South Dakota.

[10] From there, he went on to appear in several feature films, including: These Wilder Years, (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956),[10] Lafayette Escadrille (1958), and South Pacific (1958).

In 1958, Mr. Laughlin appeared in a small but memorable role in South Pacific, the movie version of the James Michener book and Rodgers and Hammerstein musical as a Navy pilot, Lt. Buzz Adams.

In 1959, he was cast as young Tom Fowler in the episode "The Fight Back" of the NBC Western series, Riverboat.

In the story line, Fowler has made himself the boss of Hampton, a corrupt river town near Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In a dispute over a wedding held on the river vessel, the Enterprise, a lynch mob led by Fowler comes after Captain Grey Holden (series star Darren McGavin).

[15] That same year, Laughlin starred in the western series Tales of Wells Fargo, the episode titled "The Quiet Village".

[27] In 1960, Laughlin planned to make a film, Poison in Our Land, based on the true story of a Texas couple affected by atomic radiation, but the project was never realized.

[30] In 1965, Laughlin told the Milwaukee Sentinel that he planned to make a film on the life of a noted Catholic priest, Father William DuBay.

[33][34] After The Born Losers, Laughlin was set to begin a film project with backing from such figures as Marlon Brando, Jack Lemmon, Candice Bergen, and director Robert Wise.

The movie was to be a documentary on the issues facing African Americans in the 1960s and would have focused greatly on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., followed by a discussion of race.

Roger Ebert, in his review of the film, wrote, "Billy Jack seems to be saying that a gun is better than a constitution in the enforcement of justice.

[43] The second sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack, released in late 1974, was a huge box-office hit, while not registering as quite as big a critical success.

However, the fourth entry in the series, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, was a failure because of distribution problems,[37] and it proved to be Laughlin's final film.

"[48]At the time of the picture's release, Laughlin's company, Billy Jack Enterprises, had plans for a new Montessori school funded by his own foundation, a record label, an investigative magazine, books, a distribution company, and more message-laden movies, including a special subsidiary to produce films for children.

"[16] In 1976, Laughlin announced that he was more than $7 million[e] in debt and blamed the financial troubles on unethical behavior by Warner Bros. Pictures, which he said had illegally sold the television rights to his films.

In 1984, he purchased a series of 12 advertisements in Variety condemning various aspects of the film industry and its treatment of independent filmmakers.

He created a blueprint for taking control of the home video distribution industry as a way for independent films to be seen.

A notable incident occurred while he was filming in New York City, when he broke up a street fight on Manhattan's West Side, threatening to rip a man's arm off.

Laughlin claimed it would be a "new genre of film" and a great deal of social commentary on politics, religion, and psychology will be discussed,[59] and a debate will take place between Billy Jack and President George W. Bush via computer manipulation of archived speeches.

He campaigned on a platform of a tax cut for "ordinary Americans", term limits, an overhaul of public education, universal health care, and nuclear disarmament.

[70][71] Laughlin later protested at being excluded from the primary ballot in his home state of Wisconsin at the same time that David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was included.

[83] He devoted several pages of the Billy Jack website to reasons that he felt justified an impeachment of George W. Bush[84] and repeatedly stated the need for a viable, mainstream third political party.

[92] On November 20, 2007, he posted a video on YouTube explaining that poor health had caused him to leave his BillyJack.com website in a dormant state.

[93] In the video, he announced that he had his health issues under control, that he updated the website, and that he was planning a new Billy Jack film.

[citation needed] As director Laughlin died of complications from pneumonia on December 12, 2013, at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California.