Pandro S. Berman | |
|---|---|
 Berman in 1953 | |
| Born | Pandro Samuel Berman (1905-03-28)March 28, 1905 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 13, 1996(1996-07-13) (aged 91) |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Culver City, California |
| Years active | 1923–1970 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Henry Berman (brother) |
Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905 – July 13, 1996), also known asPan Berman, was an American film producer.
Berman was born to aJewish family[1][2][3] inPittsburgh in 1905. His father Henry was general manager ofUniversal Pictures duringHollywood's formative years.[4]
Berman was anassistant director during the 1920s underMal St. Clair andRalph Ince. In 1930, he was hired as afilm editor atRKO Radio Pictures, then became an assistant producer. When RKO supervising producerHenry Hobart walked out during production of the ill-fatedThe Gay Diplomat (1931), Berman took over Hobart's responsibilities and remained in the post until 1939.
WhenDavid O. Selznick became chief of production at RKO in October 1931, Berman managed to survive Selznick's firing of most of the staff.[citation needed] Selznick named him producer for the adaptation ofFannie Hurst's short storyNight Bell, a tale of a Jewish doctor's rise out of theLower East Side ghetto to become a Park Avenue physician, which Selznick personally retitledSymphony of Six Million. He ordered Berman to have references to ethnic life in the Jewish ghetto restored.[5][6] The movie was a box-office and critical success, and Selznick and Berman were proud of it. Berman later said it was the "first good movie" he produced.[7]
TheFred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals were in production during the Berman regime,Katharine Hepburn rose to prominence, and such RKO classics asThe Hunchback of Notre Dame andGunga Din (both 1939) were completed.
Berman's brotherHenry, a film editor, became his assistant at RKO.[4]
Upset when an RKO power-play diminished his authority, Berman left forMGM in 1940, where he oversaw such productions asZiegfeld Girl (1941),National Velvet (1944),The Bribe (1949),Father of the Bride (1950),Blackboard Jungle (1955) andBUtterfield 8 (1960). His brother Henry also moved to MGM to continue to work with him.[4]
He had a partnership with the directorRichard Thorpe in the 1950s, with whom he made several films, includingIvanhoe (1952),The Prisoner of Zenda (1952),Knights of the Round Table (1953),All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) andThe Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955).
In 1957 he and Lawrence Weingarten formed a company Avon Productions that released through MGM.[8]
He survived several executive shake-ups at MGM and remained there until 1963, then went into independent production, closing out his career with the unsuccessfulMove (1970).
Berman was the winner of the 1976Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Six of his films were nominated forAcademy Award for Best Picture:The Gay Divorcee (1934),Alice Adams andTop Hat (both 1935),Stage Door (1937),Father of the Bride (1950), andIvanhoe (1952).
In 1937, Berman and his wife, Viola, hired architectRoland Coate to design a house for them inBeverly Hills, California. The sixteen-room, Cape Cod-inspired mansion cost $50,000 to build and included a screening room.[9] Berman had three children with his first wife Viola - Susan Berman Moshay, Cynthia Berman Schaffel, and Michael Berman. His marriage to Viola ended in divorce. In 1960, Berman married Kathryn Hereford.[10]
Berman died of congestive heart failure on July 13, 1996, in his Beverly Hills home, aged 91.
