Andy Albeck
Encyclopedia
Andreas "Andy" Albeck was an American movie executive, who was president and chief executive of United Artists
, during a time when it released two films by Woody Allen
, along with two films in both the James Bond
and Rocky
film series. He also oversaw production of Martin Scorsese
's Raging Bull, a movie frequently mentioned as one of the films considered the greatest ever, as well as Heaven's Gate
, the box office bomb
that led to the studio's demise as an independent studio.
, Russia
. His father was a Danish
executive with a shipping firm, while his mother was a Russia
n escaping the Bolshevik Revolution. His family was taken aboard an American naval vessel to Yokohama
, Japan
, where Albeck was raised and educated at St. Joseph College
. His first connection to the film industry was in 1939, when he became a sales representative for Columbia Pictures
in what was then the Dutch East Indies
, present day Indonesia
. He came to United Artists when the company made the 1951 acquisition of Eagle-Lion Films
, the British film company he had been working for.
His first marriage, to Nelly Stal, produced two children, Johannes and Nina. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1958 Albeck remarried Lotte Jamel, whom he had met in 1952 when she had been brought to the United States by her cousin Mickey Marcus
, a colonel in the United States Army
and Israel
's first general. Albeck later had Marcus's experience during World War II
and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War made into the 1966 United Artists film Cast a Giant Shadow
, starring Kirk Douglas
.
Albeck worked his way up through the sales department at United Artists, earning promotions to become president of its broadcasting division and senior vice president of operations. In 1978, Transamerica Corporation
chose him to head the studio after its former chairman Arthur B. Krim
left with a group of executives to form Orion Pictures
, picking Albeck for his ability to control costs and his positive relationship with wary Transamerica executives. Author Steven Bach
, who served as head of production at United Artists under Albeck, wrote, "Andy Albeck was not show business; that much was clear," in his book Final Cut.
During his tenure at United Artists, the studio produced The French Lieutenant's Woman
starring Meryl Streep
, Manhattan
and Stardust Memories
by director Woody Allen
and the James Bond films Moonraker
and For Your Eyes Only
. Albeck also oversaw two films in the Rocky series, both of which were box office successes. Raging Bull, with Robert DeNiro playing the role of Jake LaMotta
, was a critical success that went on to be ranked on the American Film Institute
's top 100 films of all time. Albeck's undoing was the film Heaven's Gate, which went several times over its original budget and earned little in box office revenue in the wake of overwhelmingly negative reviews, such as by Vincent Canby
of The New York Times
, who called the film a "an unqualified disaster" when it was released in November 1980. In the following weeks Albeck was named chairman of United Artists and removed from his post as president, resigning from the firm in February 1981 in the wake of media reports that he had been forced to retire. In the wake of losses amounting to $44 million, making it what was then the biggest money losing film in history, the studio was purchased in May 1981 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
from Transamerica to form MGM/UA in a deal valued at $380 million.
In his retirement, he operated the award-winning Albeck Family Christmas Tree farm in Lafayette Township, New Jersey
, growing blue spruce
trees on a 200 acres (80.9 ha) farm. A resident of Manhattan
, Albeck died there at the age of 89 on September 29, 2010, at NYU Langone Medical Center
due to heart failure. He was survived by his second wife, Lotte, as well as by his son and daughter from his first marriage, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, during a time when it released two films by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, along with two films in both the James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
and Rocky
Rocky (film series)
Rocky is a boxing saga of popular films all written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, who plays the character Rocky Balboa. The films are, by order of release date: Rocky , Rocky II , Rocky III , Rocky IV , Rocky V and Rocky Balboa...
film series. He also oversaw production of Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Raging Bull, a movie frequently mentioned as one of the films considered the greatest ever, as well as Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (film)
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s...
, the box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
that led to the studio's demise as an independent studio.
Biography
Albeck was born on September 25, 1921, in VladivostokVladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. His father was a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
executive with a shipping firm, while his mother was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n escaping the Bolshevik Revolution. His family was taken aboard an American naval vessel to Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where Albeck was raised and educated at St. Joseph College
Saint Joseph College, Yokohama
was a Catholic international school, located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It was established in 1901 and closed in June 2000. It served kindergarten, elementary education and secondary education primarily to the expatriate community in Yokohama.-Alumni:...
. His first connection to the film industry was in 1939, when he became a sales representative for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
in what was then the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, present day Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. He came to United Artists when the company made the 1951 acquisition of Eagle-Lion Films
Eagle-Lion Films
Eagle-Lion Films was a British film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to release British productions in the United States. In 1947 it acquired PRC Pictures, a small American production company, to produce B Pictures to accompany the British releases...
, the British film company he had been working for.
His first marriage, to Nelly Stal, produced two children, Johannes and Nina. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1958 Albeck remarried Lotte Jamel, whom he had met in 1952 when she had been brought to the United States by her cousin Mickey Marcus
Mickey Marcus
David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus was a United States Army colonel who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and who became Israel's first general . He was killed by friendly fire, when he was mistaken for an enemy infiltrator while returning to Israeli positions at night.Marcus is the best...
, a colonel in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's first general. Albeck later had Marcus's experience during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War made into the 1966 United Artists film Cast a Giant Shadow
Cast a Giant Shadow
Cast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big budget, action movie based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus starring Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickinson also appear in supporting roles...
, starring Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
.
Albeck worked his way up through the sales department at United Artists, earning promotions to become president of its broadcasting division and senior vice president of operations. In 1978, Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is a holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms doing business primarily in the United States. It was acquired by the Dutch financial services conglomerate AEGON in 1999.-History:...
chose him to head the studio after its former chairman Arthur B. Krim
Arthur B. Krim
Arthur B. Krim was an American entertainment lawyer, the former finance chairman for the U.S. Democratic Party, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson and the former chairman of Eagle-Lion Films , United Artists , and Orion Pictures . He was also a partner at the firm of Phillips Nizer Benjamin...
left with a group of executives to form Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
, picking Albeck for his ability to control costs and his positive relationship with wary Transamerica executives. Author Steven Bach
Steven Bach
Steven Bach was senior vice-president and head of worldwide productions for United Artists studios.In 1990, he was a member of the jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival....
, who served as head of production at United Artists under Albeck, wrote, "Andy Albeck was not show business; that much was clear," in his book Final Cut.
During his tenure at United Artists, the studio produced The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant’s Woman , by John Fowles, is a period novel inspired by the 1823 novel Ourika, by Claire de Duras, which Fowles translated into English in 1977...
starring Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Manhattan
Manhattan (film)
Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen about a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl before eventually falling in love with his best friend's mistress...
and Stardust Memories
Stardust Memories
Stardust Memories is a 1980 film written and directed by Woody Allen, who considers this to be one of his best films in addition to The Purple Rose of Cairo and Match Point. The film is shot in black-and-white, particularly reminiscent of Federico Fellini's 8½ , which it parodies...
by director Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
and the James Bond films Moonraker
Moonraker
Moonraker is the third novel by British author Ian Fleming featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955, bearing a cover based on Fleming's own concept...
and For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
. Albeck also oversaw two films in the Rocky series, both of which were box office successes. Raging Bull, with Robert DeNiro playing the role of Jake LaMotta
Jake LaMotta
Giacobbe LaMotta , better known as Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" and "The Raging Bull", is a former American world middleweight champion boxer...
, was a critical success that went on to be ranked on the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's top 100 films of all time. Albeck's undoing was the film Heaven's Gate, which went several times over its original budget and earned little in box office revenue in the wake of overwhelmingly negative reviews, such as by Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, who called the film a "an unqualified disaster" when it was released in November 1980. In the following weeks Albeck was named chairman of United Artists and removed from his post as president, resigning from the firm in February 1981 in the wake of media reports that he had been forced to retire. In the wake of losses amounting to $44 million, making it what was then the biggest money losing film in history, the studio was purchased in May 1981 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
from Transamerica to form MGM/UA in a deal valued at $380 million.
In his retirement, he operated the award-winning Albeck Family Christmas Tree farm in Lafayette Township, New Jersey
Lafayette Township, New Jersey
Lafayette Township is a Township located in the Skylands Region of Sussex County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 2,300....
, growing blue spruce
Blue Spruce
Picea pungens is a species of spruce native to western North America, from southeast Idaho and southwest Wyoming, south through Utah and Colorado to Arizona and New Mexico. It grows at high altitudes from altitude, though unlike Engelmann Spruce in the same area, it does not reach the alpine...
trees on a 200 acres (80.9 ha) farm. A resident of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Albeck died there at the age of 89 on September 29, 2010, at NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center is an academic medical center in New York City affiliated with New York University. It was named to the Honor Roll of U.S. News "Best Hospitals" in the nation for 2009-2010. The Medical Center comprises NYU School of Medicine and three hospitals: Tisch Hospital, the Rusk...
due to heart failure. He was survived by his second wife, Lotte, as well as by his son and daughter from his first marriage, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.