Tom Baum Biography: Books, Parents, Religion, Height, Children, Awards, Movies, Marriage

Tom Baum is an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter whose work gained significant attention in both Hollywood and literary circles. Known for his ability to combine psychological depth with genre storytelling, Baum’s screenplays, novels, and plays have earned him critical acclaim and a lasting reputation as a versatile writer.

His screenwriting for Carny (1980) and The Sender (1982) positioned him as a distinctive voice in the landscape of American film and television writing.

Profile

• Full name: Thomas Henle Baum
• Date of birth: 1940
• Age: 85 years old
• Gender: Male
• Place of birth: New York City, United States
• Nationality: American
• Profession: Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, short-story writer
• Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
• Weight: 75 kg
• Eye color: Blue
• Hair color: Gray
• Parents: Father – Harold Baum; Mother – Ruth Henle Baum
• Siblings: One sister
• Spouse: Carol Baum (film producer)
• Children: Will Baum; Henry Baum (born June 29, 1972)
• Relationship status: Married (to Carol Baum)
• Religion: Jewish
• Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
• Net worth: US$3–4 million

Early Life and Education

Thomas Henle Baum was born in 1940 in New York City, United States. His middle name “Henle” comes from his great-great-grandfather Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, a 19th-century German anatomist and pathologist, reflecting Baum’s German-Jewish lineage.

Raised in an intellectually inclined household, Baum developed a passion for literature and mathematics at an early age.

He attended Harvard University, where he majored in mathematics before shifting his focus toward creative writing. His analytical background in mathematics informed his structural precision as a writer—a hallmark visible in his novels and screenplays.

Personal Life

Tom Baum is married to producer Carol Baum, known for films such as Father of the Bride (1991), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), and Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982). The couple lives in Los Angeles, California, and are often regarded as one of Hollywood’s enduring creative partnerships.

They have two sons: Will Baum, an actor and therapist, and Henry Baum, an author known for the novels God’s Wife and The American Book of the Dead. Tom Baum and Carol Baum have three grandchildren. Despite his professional success, Tom has maintained a private lifestyle focused on writing, family, and teaching.

Career

Tom Baum began his career as a playwright and novelist before transitioning into screenwriting in the 1970s. His early fiction works include Counterparts: A Tale of Multi-Identity (1970) and It Looks Alive to Me! (1976), both of which explored themes of identity, consciousness, and self-perception—concepts that would later feature prominently in his screenplays.

Baum gained recognition in Hollywood after writing Carny (1980), a drama starring Jodie Foster, Gary Busey, and Robbie Robertson that delved into the gritty subculture of American traveling carnivals. His subsequent film The Sender (1982), a psychological horror produced by Paramount Pictures, became a cult classic and was praised for its haunting atmosphere and intelligent writing.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Baum continued to build his screenwriting portfolio, contributing to both film and television. Notable works include:

• The Manhattan Project (1986), a science thriller directed by Marshall Brickman.
• The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989, TV Movie).
• Nightmare Café (1992), a short-lived fantasy television series created by Wes Craven, in which Baum wrote several episodes.
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999, TV Miniseries), a modern adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel.

His work in television includes writing for The Hitchhiker (1985–1987) and Shattered Mind (1996). Baum’s stories often blend moral inquiry with suspense, exploring human consciousness and ethical complexity.

Beyond film and television, Baum has written plays produced at the L.A. Eclectic Theatre Company and regional theaters across the United States. His acclaimed one-act The Out of Body Treatment for Marital Dysfunction won first place at the Hurricane Season One-Act Festival. He has also published short fiction in Playboy and Transatlantic Review.

Awards

• Writers Guild of America (WGA) nomination – Best TV Movie for Witness to the Execution
• Writers Guild Paul Selvin Award nomination – Witness to the Execution
• L.A. Eclectic Theatre Company Hurricane Season Festival – Winner for The Out of Body Treatment for Marital Dysfunction
• American Film Institute Screenwriting Recognition (Lifetime Achievement Honor, 2018)

Net Worth

Tom Baum’s estimated net worth is between US$3–4 million. His earnings come primarily from screenwriting royalties, publishing income from novels and short fiction, theatre royalties and literary reprints etc.

Social Media

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Filmography

• Carny (1980)
• Simon (1980)
• The Sender (1982)
• The Manhattan Project (1986)
• The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)
• No Direction Home (1989)
• Night Visions (1990)
• Nightmare Café (4 episodes, 1992)
• Shattered Mind (1996, TV Movie)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999, TV Miniseries)

Books

• Counterparts: A Tale of Multi-Identity (1970)
• It Looks Alive to Me! (1976)
• Out of Body (1997)
• We Remember Everything (2023) – a collection of short stories exploring consciousness and identity