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Jean Doumanian | |
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| Born | Jean Karabas 1937 (age 88–89) |
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| Partner | Jacqui Safra |
Jean Doumanian (née Karabas; born 1937)[1] is an American stage, television and film producer.
Doumanian was born Jean Karabas and grew up in Chicago,[1] the daughter of Greek immigrant parents.[2][3] Her father was a restaurateur.[2] She attended theUniversity of Illinois but dropped out as a junior to marry John Doumanian in 1959,[4][5][6] a promoter forCapitol Records.[2][7] While out with her husband, who was scouting new talent in the clubs of Chicago,[6] she met stand-up comedianWoody Allen, who was sharing a billing with Capitol singerNancy Wilson.[2] A friendship developed after Allen's manager,Jack Rollins, asked the couple to show Allen around Chicago[2] and her husband became Allen's road manager.[6]
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The Doumanians divorced and John Doumanian moved to California.[6] Jean moved to New York at the request of up-and-coming comedianDick Cavett as a pre-interviewer and writer forABC'sThe Dick Cavett Show;[2] and then as an associate producer forSaturday Night Live with Howard Cosell.[2] In 1975, she took a position withNBC as associate producer forSaturday Night Live.[2]
Show creatorLorne Michaels resigned as producer ofSaturday Night Live at the end of itsfifth season and the entire cast and writing staff followed, with the exception of writerBrian Doyle-Murray. Doumanian, who had been an associate producer during the first five seasons of the show and produced a special for Michaels in 1978, was one of the few who remained. She was offered Michaels' job runningSNL, much to Michaels' surprise, and took over the show for the1980 season, hiring a completely new cast and new writers.
Doumanian's tenure asSNL executive producer was tumultuous. She hiredDenny Dillon,Gilbert Gottfried,Gail Matthius,Joe Piscopo,Ann Risley andCharles Rocket as repertory players, andYvonne Hudson,Matthew Laurance and Patrick Weathers as featured players. Then-unknownEddie Murphy would join the show as a featured player on the fourth episode and was upgraded to repertory status on January 24, 1981.
With its team of all-new writers and cast members, the show was plagued with problems from the start. It was deemed a commercial disappointment, and suffered from competition withABC's new weekend show,Fridays, and theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation importSCTV, which NBC aired following theTonight Show on Fridays, as well as budget cuts.
In a cliffhanger titled "Who Shot C.R." from the episode on February 21, 1981, cast member Charles Rocket was "shot" after cast members shared their grievances with Rocket and with one another. When that episode's host,Charlene Tilton, asked Rocket what it felt like to be shot, he replied "Oh man, it's the first time I've been shot in my life. I'd like to know who the fuck did it." The uncensored expletive, seemingly planned, landed the show, its producer and the network in trouble. After one further episode on March 7, 1981, the show was put on a month-long hiatus afterNBC executives decided the show needed an immediate overhaul, and Doumanian was dismissed from her position atSNL and replaced byDick Ebersol, who fired Gottfried, Risley and Rocket before the end of the hiatus. After one episode on April 11, awriters' strike began, causing the season to end early. After the season ended, Ebersol fired Matthius and Dillon. Only Piscopo, Murphy, and writersPam Norris,Barry Blaustein andDavid Sheffield remained from Doumanian's tenure when the next season started (Doyle-Murray was kept on as a writer for the next season, as well, but was not credited for the April 11 episode).[8][9] One of Doumanian's writers,Terry Sweeney, would become a cast member on the show in 1985 after Lorne Michaels returned to replace Ebersol.
On February 15, 2015, Doumanian attended theSNL 40th anniversary special.[10]
After leavingSNL, Doumanian was a producer for several ofWoody Allen's films:
She co-produced the 1994 made-for-television filmDon't Drink the Water and the 1997 documentary,Wild Man Blues, a film about a tour by Woody Allen's jazz band. During production ofThe Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2000, however, she reportedly shocked Allen with the abrupt announcement that he had 48 hours to find alternative funding for the film.[11] In May 2001, Allen filed a lawsuit against Doumanian and her business partner and long-time boyfriendJacqui Safra, before JudgeIra Gammerman in theNew York Supreme Court, claiming their production company had skimmed profits off of the movies.[12][13] The lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed amount.[14][15]
Other films which Doumanian has produced or co-produced includeThe Spanish Prisoner,All the Real Girls, andThe Ox, which was nominated for anAcademy Award (Best Foreign Language Film) in1992. She produced the 2013 filmAugust: Osage County, which garnered Academy Award nominations for its stars,Meryl Streep andJulia Roberts.
Doumanian has been producer on many Broadway productions, includingFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,Amour,Jumpers,Democracy, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winningAugust: Osage County,Mary Stuart,Superior Donuts, the Tony Award-winningBook of Mormon,The Motherfucker with the Hat,The House of Blue Leaves,The Mountaintop, the Tony Award-winning 2012revival ofDeath of a Salesman,Nice Work If You Can Get It, andThe Testament of Mary.[citation needed]
Off-Broadway, she produced David Cromer's acclaimed production ofOur Town, which garnered Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Direction and an Obie Award for Outstanding Director. She also produced David Cromer's production ofTribes, which won the 2011-2012 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play as well as the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Additional Off Broadway credits includeBat Boy: The Musical. On London's West End, she producedThe Mountaintop, winner of the 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, andChimerica.
John Doumanian...and his pretty wife...Jean Karabas was born in 1937 and raised in Chicago...
Johnny Doumanian, Columbia records promo chief, gets hitched to pretty Jean Karabas, Tailored Gal exec, in May...
Congrats to a formerly 'confirmed bachelor,' John Doumanian, Columbia Records—who sealed the marital knot with lovely Jean Karabas (5/17) at the Sheraton Towers.
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