Boy on a String

Joe Jacoby, who worked in the early days of live TV and went on to become a pioneering filmmaker, has never before revealed that his childhood was spent in foster homes and institutions. An NYU film school classmate of Martin Scorsese, Jacoby survived a childhood wrought with abuse and neglect: his mother's unpredictable and sometimes dangerous behavior forced friends to commit her; he then grew up in seven foster homes in Brooklyn, and two institutions (one for emotionally disturbed children). Yet, propelled by the power of his dreams, Jacoby went on to realize his passion for movies and made his first theatrical feature at the age of twenty-seven (it is part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent archives). His is an inspirational story of a boy without roots who made a name for himself in TV and the movies.