Australian screenwriter and director Colin Higgins was BOTD in 1941. Born in Nouméa, French New Caledonia to Australian parents, his family returned to Australia shortly after his birth and he was raised in Sydney. In 1957 he moved to the United Stares, studying at Stanford University before dropping out to pursue acting. After a tour of duty in the US Army, he returned from Stanford to complete his degree, then became a merchant seaman. In 1967, he studied filmmaking at the University of California Los Angeles, alongside fellow student Paul Schrader. His first full-length screenplay became the 1971 film Harold and Maude, a black comedy about a death-obsessed teenager who has a relationship with an eccentric 79 year-old woman. Directed by Hal Ashby, the film had mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office, but developed a cult following. Higgins was invited to adapt his script for the stage, where it played in Paris for seven years. After the success of his screenplay for the Hitchcockian thriller Silver Streak, he made his directorial debut with the comedy Foul Play, based on his own screenplay. Released in 1978 and starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, it was a box office success, launching his directorial career. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton as office workers who kidnap their male chauvinist boss and create a female-friendly workplace. Released at the tail end of the 1970s women’s movement, its combination of slapstick comedy, feminist solidarity and Parton’s stirring theme song struck a chord with audiences, becoming one of the year’s most successful films. Higgins and Parton reunited in 1982 for the critically derided but commercially successful musical film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. His final film credit, the TV movie Out on a Limb, was released in 1987. Openly gay since forever, Higgins died of an AIDS-related illness in 1988 aged 47. Before his death, he established the Collin Higgins Foundation to provide support for gay and transgender youth.