UCLA Honors Script by Resident of Anaheim

Linda Voorhees, who already has one produced screenplay to her credit, has received the Jack Nicholson screenwriting prize at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for her script titled “Mother Earth!”

The Anaheim resident, who will graduate Saturday with a master’s of fine arts degree in theater, film and television, is one of three UCLA screenwriting students who received prizes of $3,000.

Voorhees, 40, says “Mother Earth!” is about a fortyish “has-been radical mother who realizes that her daughter has virtually raised herself and she’s wondering now if the sacrifices were worth it.”

“I really was thrilled when I got the call (about winning the prize), and I also love the company I’m with. The other two winners are exceptional writers,” said Voorhees, adding that the prize “sort of validates my writing ability.”

Voorhees--a former planner with the Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks department who returned to college two years ago--is the only one of the three prize winners to have had a script produced.

Her screenplay, “Crazy From the Heart,” was about a conservative Texas high school principal (Christine Lahti) who shocks the community when she falls in love with the school’s Mexican-American custodian (Ruben Blades.) It aired on TNT in 1991.

Voorhees says her “Mother Earth!” script “is floating around with various directors and actresses looking for a place to nest.”