Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jan 3, 2014 21:12:57 GMT -6
Saul Zaentz, who parlayed a successful career in the music business to a second-act as an award-winning independent movie producer, has died.
After presenting such major acts as Creedence Clearwater Revival on his Fantasy Records label, Zaentz moved into producing and shared three Academy Awards for best picture -- for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984) and The English Patient (1996).
Zaentz received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1997 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his “consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
Incredibly, two of his best picture Oscars were his first two films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. His third film was the internationally acclaimed The Unbearable Lightness of Being, nominated for a pair of Academy Awards.
He teamed with Michael Douglas on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Jack Nicholson-starrer based on Ken Kesey’s novel earned Zaentz his first Academy Award, which he shared with Douglas.
Befitting his music-industry background, his second Oscar was music-based. Amadeus was based on the life and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the jealousy his talent inspired with his mentor. That film won eight Oscars.
His third Oscar winner, The English Patient, based on an unpublished novel that Zaentz acquired, also received BAFTA's best film award.
He produced an animated version of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi, as well as Payday (1972), Three Warriors (1978), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991). He executive-produced The Mosquito Coast (1986).
More recently, Zaentz produced Goya's Ghosts (2006), directed by Milos Forman, also his man on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus.
Zaentz received the Producers Guild of America's Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award in 1997 for The English Patient. He also received the PGA's Vision Award for the film. Most auspiciously, the PGA presented Zaentz with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures in 1994.
He also received BAFTA's Academy Fellowship in 2003 for his career achievements in motion pictures.
In 1980, Zaentz created the Saul Zaentz Film Center in Berkeley, Calif., an editing and sound-mixing facility. The Center housed the Saul Zaentz Co., Fantasy Studios, Concord Music Group and the Berkeley Digital Film Institute as well as other production companies.
Not averse to litigation, including suing studios for profits-share, Zaentz was involved in acrimonious litigation with Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty over song rights. Zaentz's contention was with two songs on Fogerty's 1985 Centerfield album for Warner Bros. Records. Zaentz argued that the song “Zanz Kant Danz” was a slur on him. He filed suit and Fogerty responded by changing the name to Vanz.
Zaentz filed a second lawsuit, contending that Fogerty used the same chorus for “The Old Man Down the Road,” as “Run Through the Jungle,” which Fogerty had recorded while on Zaentz's Fantasy Records label. Fogerty ultimately prevailed after surreal courtroom testimony that, essentially, absolved him of plagiarizing himself.
Zaentz was born in Passaic, N.J. on Feb. 28, 1921. He ran away from home at 15, landing in St. Louis, where he worked as a peanut vendor at Cardinals baseball games. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European and Pacific theaters.
After World War II, Zaentz attempted to make a living at chicken farming and spent a semester studying animal husbandry at Rutgers. After spending six weeks on a farm, Zaentz decided to pursue other options. He returned to St. Louis, where he studied business for two years before heading to San Francisco.
There, Zaentz landed a job with music impresario Norman Granz, where he managed the company's concert tours. Zaentz went on the road with such jazz greats as Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck.
In 1955, Zaentz joined Fantasy Records, which recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival, featuring former Fantasy warehouse worker Fogerty. Zaentz and a group of investors purchased Fantasy Records in 1967 and propelled it into the world's largest jazz label.
Buoyed by his success with CCR, Zaentz decided to enter another creative domain, the movies, and aspired to produce the adaptations of two acclaimed novels of the 1960s: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and At Play in the Fields of the Lord.
After presenting such major acts as Creedence Clearwater Revival on his Fantasy Records label, Zaentz moved into producing and shared three Academy Awards for best picture -- for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984) and The English Patient (1996).
Zaentz received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1997 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his “consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
Incredibly, two of his best picture Oscars were his first two films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. His third film was the internationally acclaimed The Unbearable Lightness of Being, nominated for a pair of Academy Awards.
He teamed with Michael Douglas on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Jack Nicholson-starrer based on Ken Kesey’s novel earned Zaentz his first Academy Award, which he shared with Douglas.
Befitting his music-industry background, his second Oscar was music-based. Amadeus was based on the life and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the jealousy his talent inspired with his mentor. That film won eight Oscars.
His third Oscar winner, The English Patient, based on an unpublished novel that Zaentz acquired, also received BAFTA's best film award.
He produced an animated version of The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi, as well as Payday (1972), Three Warriors (1978), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991). He executive-produced The Mosquito Coast (1986).
More recently, Zaentz produced Goya's Ghosts (2006), directed by Milos Forman, also his man on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus.
Zaentz received the Producers Guild of America's Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award in 1997 for The English Patient. He also received the PGA's Vision Award for the film. Most auspiciously, the PGA presented Zaentz with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures in 1994.
He also received BAFTA's Academy Fellowship in 2003 for his career achievements in motion pictures.
In 1980, Zaentz created the Saul Zaentz Film Center in Berkeley, Calif., an editing and sound-mixing facility. The Center housed the Saul Zaentz Co., Fantasy Studios, Concord Music Group and the Berkeley Digital Film Institute as well as other production companies.
Not averse to litigation, including suing studios for profits-share, Zaentz was involved in acrimonious litigation with Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty over song rights. Zaentz's contention was with two songs on Fogerty's 1985 Centerfield album for Warner Bros. Records. Zaentz argued that the song “Zanz Kant Danz” was a slur on him. He filed suit and Fogerty responded by changing the name to Vanz.
Zaentz filed a second lawsuit, contending that Fogerty used the same chorus for “The Old Man Down the Road,” as “Run Through the Jungle,” which Fogerty had recorded while on Zaentz's Fantasy Records label. Fogerty ultimately prevailed after surreal courtroom testimony that, essentially, absolved him of plagiarizing himself.
Zaentz was born in Passaic, N.J. on Feb. 28, 1921. He ran away from home at 15, landing in St. Louis, where he worked as a peanut vendor at Cardinals baseball games. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European and Pacific theaters.
After World War II, Zaentz attempted to make a living at chicken farming and spent a semester studying animal husbandry at Rutgers. After spending six weeks on a farm, Zaentz decided to pursue other options. He returned to St. Louis, where he studied business for two years before heading to San Francisco.
There, Zaentz landed a job with music impresario Norman Granz, where he managed the company's concert tours. Zaentz went on the road with such jazz greats as Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck.
In 1955, Zaentz joined Fantasy Records, which recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival, featuring former Fantasy warehouse worker Fogerty. Zaentz and a group of investors purchased Fantasy Records in 1967 and propelled it into the world's largest jazz label.
Buoyed by his success with CCR, Zaentz decided to enter another creative domain, the movies, and aspired to produce the adaptations of two acclaimed novels of the 1960s: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and At Play in the Fields of the Lord.