Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE (born 9 July 1933) is a British-American neurologist, writer, and amateur chemist who is Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine. Between 2007 and 2012, he was professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also held the position of "Columbia Artist". Before that, he spent many years on the clinical faculty of Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also holds the position of visiting professor at the United Kingdom's University of Warwick.Sacks is the author of numerous best-selling books, including several collections of case studies of people with neurological disorders. His 1973 book Awakenings was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film of the same name in 1990 starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. He and his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain were the subject of "Musical Minds", an episode of the PBS series Nova.
The Queen's College, Oxford, University of California, Los Angeles
Nationality
British
Parents
Samuel Sacks, Muriel Elsie Landau
Siblings
Michael Sacks, David Sacks
Awards
New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, Guggenheim Fellowship for Natural Sciences, US & Canada
Nominations
Goodreads Choice Awards Best Science & Technology
Movies
Awakenings, The Music Never Stopped, At First Sight, Re:Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, The Red Spot
Star Sign
Cancer
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Quote
1
[on his patient Spalding Gray] On several occasions he talked about what he called "a creative suicide". On one occasion, when he was being interviewed, he thought that the interview might be culminated with a "dramatic and creative suicide". I was at pains to say that he would be much more creative alive than dead.
2
[on discovering that the study of modern chemistry was more theoretical than tactile] This seemed an awful prospect, for I - at least - needed to smell and touch and feel, to place myself, my senses in the middle of the perceptual world. I had dreamed of becoming a chemist, but the chemistry that really stirred me was the lovingly detailed, naturalistic, descriptive chemistry of the nineteenth century, not the new chemistry of the quantum age.
3
[interview in Newsweek magazine, 8/20/84] There is only one cardinal rule: One must always LISTEN to the patient.
4
[interview in Newsweek magazine, 8/20/84] If migraine patients have a common and legitimate second complaint besides their migraines, it is that they have not been listened to by physicians. Looked at, investigated, drugged, charged, but not listened to.
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Fact
1
He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to medicine.
2
One of his first cousins was Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat, author, scholar, narrator of the nine-part TV series "Heritage" (1987) and another TV series. He completed one film, "The Brink of Peace".
3
Lived in Greenwich Village, New York City, where he swam in the local YMCA pool regularly.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Re: Awakenings
2013
Documentary short story
The Music Never Stopped
2011
essay "The Last Hippie"
At First Sight
1999
story "To See and Not See" - as Oliver Sacks M.D.
Awakenings
1990
book - as Oliver Sacks M.D.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
1987
TV Movie book
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
At First Sight
1999
Reporter
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Re: Awakenings
2013
Documentary short
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Awakenings
1990
technical consultant - as Oliver Sacks M.D.
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Science Times
2002
TV Series documentary special thanks - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jeopardy!
2014
TV Series
Himself - Video Clue Presenter
Alive Inside
2014
Documentary
Himself
When Björk Met Attenborough
2013
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Sekai no eichi 6 nin ga kataru mirai e no teigen
2013
TV Mini-Series
Himself (as Oribâ Sakkusu)
Fantástico
2012
TV Series documentary
Himself
Arena
2012
TV Series documentary
Himself
60 Minutes
2012
TV Series documentary
Himself - Neurologist (segment "Face Blindness")
Imagine
2008-2011
TV Series documentary
Himself
Ideas That Changed the World
2010
TV Series documentary
Himself
Charlie Rose
1995-2010
TV Series
Himself - Guest / Himself
TEDTalks
2009
TV Series
Himself
The Daily Show
2009
TV Series
Himself
The Music Instinct
2009
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The Genius and the Boys
2009
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Professor of Neurology and Author
Great Genius and Profound Stupidity
2008
Documentary short
Indestructible
2007
Documentary
Janela da Alma
2001
Documentary
Himself
Oliver Sacks: The Mind Traveller
1998
TV Movie
Himself
Awakenings: The Real Story
1998
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Williams Syndrome: A Highly Musical Species
1996
Documentary
Himself
Horizon
1994
TV Series documentary
Himself - Presenter
A Glorious Accident
1993
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Bouillon de culture
1991
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Late Show
1989
TV Series documentary
Himself - Interviewee
Q.E.D.
1989
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
1987
TV Movie
Himself
The Dick Cavett Show
1981
TV Series
Himself - Dr. Sacks / Author
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
60 Minutes
2012-2016
TV Series documentary
Himself - Neurologist (segment "Face Blindness")
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1991
USC Scripter Award
USC Scripter Award
Awakenings (1990)
Known for movies
Awakenings (1990) as Writer
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1987) as Writer
Oliver Sacks: The Mind Traveller (1998) as Himself
$6 Million
