Alan Landsburg

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Alan William Landsburg (born May 10, 1933 in White Plains (New York) , † August 13, 2014 in Beverly Hills , California ) was an American producer , director and writer who was nominated for an Oscar . Landsburg was also the founder and CEO of Landsburg, which was founded in 1985.

Life

Alan Landsburg was the son of Harry and Fannie Landsburg, b. Koslowe. He graduated from New York University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in communications. Since the Korean War (1950 to 1953) had broken out in the meantime , he was drafted fresh from university into the army, where he was assigned to the American Forces Network , which gave him the opportunity to work as a writer and director. Building on this experience, he worked after his army service as a writer and director of television programs in Manhattan ; around the late 1960s, he then moved to California . From the beginning of the 1960s to around the beginning of the 1970s, he was mainly busy producing documentaries. He became known for his television documentaries, which he created about prominent people under the surtitle Biography in the period 1961 to 1963, starting with Will Rogers , and about Amelia Earhart , Charles Lindbergh , Winston Churchill , Franklin D. Roosevelt , Mahatma Gandhi , Adolf Hitler , Charles de Gaulle , Harry S. Truman , Josef Stalin , Pope Pius XII. , Thomas Edison , Wernher von Braun , Helen Keller , Dwight D. Eisenhower , Eva Perón , George Bernard Shaw , John Barrymore , Konrad Adenauer , Queen Elizabeth II. Ending with Wendell Willkie as the last in a series of 59 films. He also wrote the screenplay for 32 of these films and also directed 36 episodes. For the Hollywood and the Stars series , he wrote the template for the film Natalie Wood : Hollywood's Child in 1964 .

His 1964 documentary, A Thousand Days: A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy , directed, scripted and produced by Landsburg, received frenetic applause from the Democratic National Convention audience when it celebrated the first anniversary of the president who was assassinated a year earlier was broadcast. He was assisted by David L. Wolper as executive producer . Together with this, Landsburg is considered a pioneer of this film format. In 1964/1965 he produced 32 episodes of the television series Men in Crisis , where he also provided the template for three episodes, as well as the television documentary October Madness: The World Series . This was followed by his work on the Time-Life Specials: The March of Time , of which he produced nine films from 1965 to 1966, two of which he was also responsible for as an author. Further documentaries, for which he was responsible as a producer, such as ten films in the National Geographic Specials , emerged in the following years. Landsburg was also involved in the pioneering naturalist series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau in 1968/1969.

Landsburg's first television film was made in 1969 under the title Mirror, Mirror of the Wall . In 1970 he founded his own production company, Alan Lands Productions, which was later merged with the Reeves Entertainment Group. The situation comedies Gimme a Break and Kate & Allie were created under this banner. The 1970 Landsburg-produced television drama A Storm in Summer by Buzz Kulik , for which Rod Serling wrote the script and Peter Ustinov played a deli, was nominated for three Emmys and won two.

In 1972 , Landsburg received an Oscar nomination in the “Best Documentary” category for its Alaska Wilderness Lake production , which shows how the naturalist Dr. Theodore Walker immersed himself in life on Baranof Island during an eight-month expedition . However, the Oscar went to Walon Green and his combination of documentary and science fiction film called The Hellstrom Chronicle .

Other television films followed, which alternated with documentaries. Landsburg provided the script for the television film Black Water Gold , directed and acted as producer. The television films he produced were often based on real events and dealt with important social issues. For example, the TV film The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal from 1979 shows the devastating consequences that can result when a company disregards the safety regulations for employees. The biographical television drama Bill from 1981 deals with the fate of Bill Sackter, who already seems lost at the age of seven due to an intellectual disability and is struggling to find his place in society, which he succeeds in almost 45 years later. Mickey Rooney , who played him in the film, received an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for his performance . Landsburg's 1983 television film Adam addresses the fate of kidnapped children and their parents, leading to the establishment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act . In The Ryan White Story , Landsburg drew attention to the problems of children suffering from hemophilia . The TV movie A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story is about child abuse. Landsburg worked with his wife, Linda Otto, on many of these social dramas.

Landsburg's first feature film, which he supervised as executive producer, was the horror film Die Nacht des Hexenjäger from 1981. On the teenage comedy Porky's II - The Day After and on the 3D animal horror film Jaws 3-D with Dennis Quaid , both from 1983, he was also involved as executive producer.

In 1995 he produced a portrait of his colleague Rod Serling for the American Masters documentary series . One of the first forerunners of the so-called reality shows That's Incredible! , which he started and on which he worked in 1981, 1998 and 2003 both as a producer and as a writer, received a Pigasus Award .

Private

After Landsburg withdrew from the television business, he pursued his love for horse racing . He himself owned more than 400 thoroughbreds . He was also involved in various organizations related to horse racing. For example, he was founding director of the Californian Thoroughbred Owners of California, or TOC for short, an owner association for thoroughbred breeding and chairman of the Californian Horse Racing Board.

Landsburg was married twice. With his wife Sally Breit, from whom he divorced in 1975, he had the daughter Valerie , who works as an actress, and a son. Linda Otto, with whom he has another daughter, became his second wife in 1976. With her he created many of his documentary dramas. She died in 2004. The couple last lived together in Beverly Hills , where Alan Landsburg died of natural causes on August 13, 2014.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1964: Biography (TV documentaries, 59 episodes)
  • 1964: A Thousand Days: A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (TV documentary)
  • 1964/1965: Men in Crisis (TV series, 32 episodes)
  • 1965: October Madness: The World Series (television documentary)
  • 1965: Time-Life Specials: The March of Time (TV documentary, 9 episodes)
  • 1965–1968: National Geographic Specials (TV series documentary)
  • 1966: The World of Animals: It's a Dog's World (TV documentary)
  • 1968: The World of Animals: The World of Horses (TV documentary)
  • 1968: The World of Animals: Big Cats, Little Cats (TV documentary)
  • 1968: On the Trail of Stanley and Livingstone (TV documentary)
  • 1968/1969: Secrets of the Sea (The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau)
  • 1969: Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall (TV movie)
  • 1970: Black Water Gold (TV movie)
  • 1970: A Storm in Summer (TV movie)
  • 1971: Alaska Wilderness Lake (documentary)
  • 1975: The Black List ( Fear on Trial , TV movie)
  • 1975: Young Fates - Fawn Story (ABC Afterschool Specials, TV series)
  • 1976: Killer bees attack ( The Savage Bees , movie made for TV)
  • 1977: Ants - The Revenge of the Black Queen ( It Happened at Lakewood Manor , Movie made for TV)
  • 1977: Deadly Cargo ( Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo , Movie made for TV)
  • 1977–1982: In Search of ... (TV series documentary, 35 episodes)
  • 1978: Before the Eyes of the World ( Ruby and Oswald , TV movie)
  • 1978: Between the Wars (TV series documentary)
  • 1978: Terror from the Clouds - Killer Bees 2 ( Terror Out of the Sky , TV movie)
  • 1979: Feuerfalle ( The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal , TV movie)
  • 1979/1980: The Long Trek (TV mini-series, 13 episodes)
  • 1980: The Jayne Mansfield Story (The Jayne Mansfield Story)
  • 1981: That's Incredible! - August 31, 1981 (TV series)
  • 1981: The Long Way Home ( A Long Way Home , Movie made for TV)
  • 1981: Bill (TV movie)
  • 1981: Burned at the Stake
  • 1981: Buana - The White Lions of Timbavati (The White Lions)
  • 1983: Porky's II - The day after
  • 1983: Great White Shark 3-D (Jaws 3-D)
  • 1983: Adam (TV movie)
  • 1983: The Kennedys ( Kennedy , television mini-series)
  • 1984: Henchmen of Death ( The Glory Boys , television mini-series, 3 episodes)
  • 1987: Long Gone (TV movie)
  • 1988: A Place at the Table (TV movie)
  • 1988: Too Young the Hero (TV movie)
  • 1988: The Law of Silence (A Stoning in Fulham County)
  • 1989: The Ryan White Story (TV movie)
  • 1990: Murderous Suspicion ( In Defense of a Married Man , Movie made for TV)
  • 1991: Prisoners of Wedlock (television documentary)
  • 1992: Take Our Daughter's Hands ( A Mother 'Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story , Movie)
  • 1995: Death in the Bedroom ( If Someone Had Known , Movie made for TV)
  • 1995: American Masters - Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (TV series documentary)
  • 1996: The Lottery , Movie made for TV
  • 1997: Abused - A Mother Confesses ( Country Justice , Movie made for TV)
  • 1998: That's Incredible! (TV movie)
  • 2003: That's Incredible !: The Reunion Part 2 (TV movie)

Awards

Primetime Emmy Award
  • 1970: Winner with MJ Rivkin and the TV movie A Storm in Summer
  • 1976: Nominated with Laurence D. Savadove and Stanley Chase and the television drama Fear on Trial
  • 1978: Nominated with Anthony Potter and the television film Between the Wars
  • 1982: Nominated with Mel Stuart and the television drama Bill
  • 1984: Nominated with Joan Barnett and Linda Otto and the television drama Adam
Oscar
CableACE Award
  • 1988: Nominated with Joan Barnett and the TV movie Long Gone
  • 1993: Nominated with Donna Harris, Karen Katz, Linda Otto and Toni Love Holden and the television documentary Prisoners of Wedlock
Christopher Award
  • 1989: Winner with Arthur Allan Seidelman and Joan Barnett and the TV movie A Place at the Table

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Governor Davis Appoints Member to California Horse Racing Board certificate dated November 22, 2000, accessed January 11, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b c Alan Landsburg biography at filmreference.com, accessed January 11, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Alan Landsburg dies at 81; winning producer and leading horseman In: Los Angeles Times , August 20, 2014, accessed January 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ Famed Emmy-Winning Producer, Thoroughbred Racing Executive Alan Landsburg Dies At Age 81 In: Beverly Hills Courier, August 22, 2014, accessed January 11, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Landsburg, Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Landsburg, Alan William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American producer, director, and writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH White Plains (New York) , United States
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 2014
Place of death Beverly Hills , California , United States