Thornton Melon (formerly Thornton Meloni) is the main protagonist of the 1986 American comedy film Back to School. He is a rich successful businessman, who never went to college, and thus has no education. Thornton is portrayed by the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also played Rover Dangerfield in the 1991 film of the same name.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Thornton was born Thornton Meloni, the son of an immigrant tailor from Italy, with the dream to go into his father's business someday. As a child, Thornton attended a local elementary school, and came home one day with his report card. His father is upset with this, which showed substandard grades, and he chides Thornton for having no direction in life. The young Thornton says he already has an idea of what to do in life, as he presumably is apprenticed to his father, and says he wants to go into his father's line of work making clothes. However, Thornton's father is still not happy, warning his son that it matters not how much prestige or money he may make in life: "If a man has got no education, he's got nothing". Later on in the film it was shown that Thornton never graduated high school, his father's warning apparently lost on him.
Successful career & Personal life[]
Thornton seemed to have worked well with his father, despite the lesson of the importance of formal education being lost on him. After his father died, he inherited the shop. He also changed his name to Melon, likely to be more American sounding. In due time, he launched a chain of "Tall & Fat" stores, which catered to overweight people and became a huge success. He also married and had a son named Jason. Through a montage of photographs, Thorton is shown spending time with Jason and buying a series of progressively nicer houses. He also devoted time to a personal hobby of his; diving, which he first self-learned as a boy jumping off the Steel Pier. The photographs also show Thornton doing charity work by coaching kids in diving. Unfortunately, Thornton's wife at some point died, then he remarried a woman named Vanessa, who was a gold-digger and an adulter and disliked Jason. One day at work after a meeting, he called Jason who was in college at the time and told his father was a member of a fraternity and a member of the school's diving, and told him he could not make it to his and Vanessa's wedding anniversary party. Later that night during the party, Thornton began to alienate the guests and Vanessa, causing to become fed up with and request a divorce. Thornton happily agrees with her and gives her the divorce papers to sign, however, that isn't enough for Vanessa who wants to sue Thornton for half his wealth, but then Thornton in return to threatens to expose her affairs causing Vanessa to leave.
Visiting Jason[]
Thornton decides to spend some time with the only living member of his family, Jason, by dropping by Grand Lakes University just as the autumn semester is about to begin. Jason is shocked by this, and is forced to admit he is not in a fraternity as he said and the only position he has on the diving team is the towel boy. His only friend is a kid named Derek who talks about anarchy and socially awkward issues. Thornton said Jason can be honest with him, considering he struggled in his early life. He also says it is better to have a true friend like Derek than many hanger-ons and fair-weathered friends, as he experienced when living with Vanessa. Jason is thinking of dropping out of college, but Thornton is against it.