Ralph L. Thomas is a Brazilian born Canadian film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

. He was born to Canadian Baptist missionary parents and grew up in Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 in 1961 and began to write for the entertainment pages of the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 a year later. He directed his first film in 1977 for the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

, a made-for-TV movie called Tyler. He continued to make movies for television for a few years before he got his big break directing the feature film Ticket to Heaven

Ticket to Heaven

Ticket to Heaven is a 1981 Canadian film about the recruiting of a man into a group portrayed to be a cult, and his life in the group until forcibly extracted by his family and friends. The film was directed by Ralph L. Thomas...

. The film won Best Motion Picture

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture

The Genie Award for Best Motion Picture is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian motion picture.-1st Genie Awards:*The Changeling *Cordélia...

 at the Genie Awards and Thomas was nominated for Best Director

Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction

The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film director.-1st Genie Awards:*Bob Clark, Murder by Decree*Peter Carter, Klondike Fever...

. His follow-up film, The Terry Fox Story

The Terry Fox Story

The Terry Fox Story is a 1983 film biopic of Canadian amputee and runner Terry Fox. It was written by Howard Hume, John Kastner and Rose Kastner, and directed by Ralph L. Thomas. The film stars Eric Fryer as Fox, Chris Makepeace as his brother Darrell, and Robert Duvall as Fox's publicist, Bill...

 also won the Genie Award for Best Motion Picture

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture

The Genie Award for Best Motion Picture is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian motion picture.-1st Genie Awards:*The Changeling *Cordélia...

. Thomas continued to direct feature and television films until 1996.

Selected filmography

• A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1996)
• Young Ivanhoe
  Young Ivanhoe
  Young Ivanhoe is a 1995 television series based on the 1819 novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was directed by Ralph L. Thomas and starred Kristen Holden-Ried as Ivanhoe. Other starring actors were Stacy Keach, Margot Kidder, Nick Mancuso, Rachel Blanchard, and Matthew Daniels....
  
   (TV movie, 1995)
• Vendetta II: The New Mafia (TV movie, 1993)
• The First Season (1988)
• Apprentice to Murder (1988)
• The Crowd (TV movie, 1984)
• The Terry Fox Story
  The Terry Fox Story
  The Terry Fox Story is a 1983 film biopic of Canadian amputee and runner Terry Fox. It was written by Howard Hume, John Kastner and Rose Kastner, and directed by Ralph L. Thomas. The film stars Eric Fryer as Fox, Chris Makepeace as his brother Darrell, and Robert Duvall as Fox's publicist, Bill...
  
   (1983)
• Ticket to Heaven
  Ticket to Heaven
  Ticket to Heaven is a 1981 Canadian film about the recruiting of a man into a group portrayed to be a cult, and his life in the group until forcibly extracted by his family and friends. The film was directed by Ralph L. Thomas...
  
   (1981)
• A Paid Vacation (TV movie, 1980)
• Ambush at Iriquois Point (TV movie, 1979)
• Cementhead (TV movie, 1979)
• Tyler (TV movie, 1977)

External links