Harve Bennett | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bennett on February 14, 2009, atFarpoint Convention | |
| Born | Harvard Bennett Fischman (1930-08-17)August 17, 1930 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 2015(2015-02-25) (aged 84) Medford, Oregon, U.S. |
| Resting place | Willamette National Cemetery |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1955–1998 |
| Known for | Star Trek (films) |
Harve Bennett (bornHarvard Bennett Fischman; August 17, 1930 – February 25, 2015) was an Americantelevision andfilm producer andscreenwriter.[1]
Bennett was born to aJewish family[2] inChicago,Illinois, in 1930,[3] the son of Kathryn (née Susman), a journalist, and Yale Fischman, a lawyer.[3] As a young boy, Bennett appeared on the radio programQuiz Kids, which introduced him toshow business.[4] By the time Bennett had reached college age, the radio business was in decline, and he turned to the world offilm. He entered theUniversity of California, Los Angeles and graduated from theirfilm school.[4] Following his graduation from college, in 1953 Bennett joined the United States Army. He served in theMilitary Police Corps, based at the United States Disciplinary Barracks inLompoc, California. He was honorably discharged in 1955 with the rank ofcorporal.[5] Bennett then began his career as a production executive. He first worked atCBS inNew York City and later moved to the programming department ofABC, becoming Vice President of Daytime Programming.[4] At ABC, he rose to become Vice President of Programming for a time.
Following his work with ABC, Bennett moved over to production. His first project was to develop a television series with producerAaron Spelling calledThe Mod Squad, which Bennett produced from 1968 until 1973.[3]
FollowingThe Mod Squad, Bennett joinedUniversal Studios where he produced a variety of television series andminiseries. The best known of these series are probablyThe Six Million Dollar Man (1973–78) andThe Bionic Woman (1976-78).[6] Other series and miniseries he produced at Universal includeRich Man, Poor Man (1976),The Invisible Man (1975) andGemini Man (1976).[4][6]
Bennett then moved toColumbia Pictures Television where he continued as a television producer, along with MGM TV employee Harris Katleman, which was joint partner from 1977 to 1980.[7] His projects at Columbia Pictures included the seriesSalvage 1 (1979) and the miniseriesThe Jesse Owens Story (1984).
While working at Columbia Pictures TV, Bennett was also brought toParamount Pictures to work in their television division producing television series. One of his first productions for Paramount was a television miniseries forParamount Domestic Television,A Woman Called Golda (1982), which wasIngrid Bergman's final role and which co-starredLeonard Nimoy.[3]
In 1980, only a few weeks into his contract with Paramount, Bennett was called to a meeting with then top executives of ParamountBarry Diller andMichael Eisner, along withCharles Bluhdorn who was then head of Paramount's parentGulf+Western. Bluhdorn, dissatisfied with the results ofStar Trek: The Motion Picture, was looking for someone new to take over the next film in the series.
According to Bennett, Bluhdorn asked him what he thought of the firstStar Trek film and, after Bennett said he found it boring, Bluhdorn asked him if he could make a better picture and if he could do it for less than $45 million (the eventual budget of the first film).[5] When Bennett said that he could, Bluhdorn said "do it" and he was hired.
To prepare for the job of producing aStar Trek film, Bennett first screened all 79 episodes of the originalStar Trek series in a projection room at Paramount. He was particularly drawn to the episode "Space Seed," which featuredRicardo Montalbán as the genetically enhanced supervillainKhan Noonien Singh. At the conclusion of the episode, Khan and his followers are exiled to an uninhabited planet, andJames T. Kirk andSpock wonder what will become of them. This gave Bennett the 'hook' he was looking for, and led him to develop a sequel to the episode.
Bennett's idea formed the beginnings of what would becomeThe Wrath of Khan. Bennett himself developed the original story premise, and then worked with screenwriterJack B. Sowards on the early drafts of the screenplay.Nicholas Meyer was later introduced to Bennett and completed the final drafts of the script, in addition to directing the film with Bennett asexecutive producer and Robert Sallin as producer.[4]Star Trek II proved to be an enormous success, both in terms of the box office receipts and fan response.
Following the success ofStar Trek II, Bennett served as producer on the next threeStar Trek films:The Search for Spock,The Voyage Home—which for a long time stood as one of the most successful of theStar Trek films—andThe Final Frontier.[4][8] In addition to serving as producer, Bennett also wroteStar Trek III, co-wrote the story and screenplay forStar Trek IV, and co-wrote the story forStar Trek V.[4][8] Bennett also made cameo appearances inStar Trek III (as the voice of the flight recorder) andStar Trek V (as aStarfleetChief of StaffAdmiral who gives Captain Kirk his orders).[9]
FollowingStar Trek V, Bennett developed an idea for a sixthStar Trek film that would take a different approach from the previous films.[4] Titled "The Academy Years", it would have focused on the characters of Kirk and Spock when they were much younger and cadets atStarfleet Academy. It would have delved into the early relationships between these characters, and shown how they developed such a close friendship over the years. WhileWilliam Shatner andLeonard Nimoy would have had cameos at the beginning and end of the film to "bookend" the story in flashback form, new actors would have portrayed most of the roles in the film, including the young Kirk and Spock.
Although Paramount was initially enthusiastic about the idea, feedback from fans was almost universally negative over aStar Trek film without the established actors that fans had come to know and love. Also, Martin Davis who at the time was the head of Gulf & Western, wanted a film featuring the original cast to markStar Trek's 25th anniversary in 1991. Paramount offered Bennett the opportunity to produce this film with the original cast, even offering to produce his academy film afterward, but Bennett declined, citing multiple reasons including a lack of story ideas for the requested film and the rushed time frame in which the film would have to be completed in order to coincide withStar Trek's 25th anniversary.[4]
This marked the end of Bennett's association with theStar Trek franchise, and shortly thereafter he left Paramount.[4] The sixthStar Trek film was later titledStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and was released in movie theaters on December 6, 1991.
After producing theStar Trek films, Bennett wrote the television movieCrash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992).[5] He co-created and produced the science-fiction television seriesTime Trax (1993–1995), and produced the animated miniseriesInvasion America (1998), for which Nimoy was a voice actor.[5]
Bennett died on February 25, 2015, in Medford, Oregon, due to a burst embolism in his small intestine and a second one found in his lung.[10][11] His death occurred two days before that of Leonard Nimoy. He was interred at theWillamette National Cemetery.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Battle simulator computer | Voice, uncredited |
| 1984 | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | Flight Recorder | Voice |
| 1989 | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Starfleet Chief of Staff |
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