This weekend saw the world of Hollywood lose yet another talent, this time in the form of producer Saul Zaentz. Zaentz had a hand in many big name films during his career, having produced ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, AMADEUS and THE ENGLISH PATIENT. The brilliant producer passed away on 3rd January in San Francisco, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Zaentz had three films win the Best Picture Academy Award, which is one heck of a success rate when you consider that he only produced nine movies during his career. Alongside awards for his film projects, he himself was no stranger to winning awards. In 1994 he won the prestigious Producers Guild lifetime achievement award, which was followed in 1996 when Zaentz was awarded the honorary Irving J. Thalberg award; an award that rewards “creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.” His last but by no means least award was in 2003, when BAFTA deemed him worthy of their Academy Fellowship award.
Born in 1921, Zaentz had a long and varied life. He served in the army during World War II, and went onto study business before relocating to San Francisco. He came to the world of film after a lengthly career in the music business. He worked with the iconic Duke Ellington (whose music features in the fantastic AMERICAN HUSTLE), and joined independent jazz label Fantasy Records, a company he would later go on to buy. It is here that he first worked with band Creedence Clearwater Revival, which led to a series of unfortunate lawsuits with the group’s frontman John Fogerty over contract disputes.
He joined the realm of film after purchasing the writes to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. This project kickstarted a trend within his work of turning literary masterpieces, that were deemed too intricate or difficult to make, into worldwide box-office sensations. He was renown for the passion and energy he put into his projects having being quoted as saying:
You don’t make movies to be art movies. You make movies that move you emotionally because if you’re going to commit five years of your life to a movie, you need something to keep you going.
The 92-year-old is survived by his four children and seven grandchildren.
Source: The Guardian
