Daniel Melnick
Encyclopedia
Daniel Melnick was an American
film producer
and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as All That Jazz
, Altered States
and Straw Dogs. Melnick's films won more than 20 Academy Awards out of some 80 nominations.
, to Benjamin Melnick, a Jewish immigrant from Russia
who was killed in a car crash when Melnick was a child. His mother, Celia, remarried, and Melnick attended the High School of Performing Arts
. After high school, Melnick attended New York University
. He served in the United States Army
during the 1950s, where he produced entertainment for troops while stationed at New Jersey
's Fort Dix and in Oklahoma
.
, where he worked on the development of such programs as The Flintstones
and The Fugitive
. Melnick became an independent producer, forming a company with David Susskind
that produced the Emmy Award
-winning TV productions aired on CBS, with Ages of Man
starring John Gielgud
in 1966, which included readings from William Shakespeare
's works ranging from Romeo and Juliet
to Richard II
, with critic Jack Gould
of The New York Times
calling it "a viewing occasion to be treasured". In 1967 they presented Arthur Miller
's Death of a Salesman
, starring Lee J. Cobb
, a production that Jack Gould of The Times described as one "that will stand as the supreme understanding of the tragedy of Willy Loman." They also produced the secret agent satire Get Smart
that ran from 1965 to 1970 on CBS and NBC
, as well as the police drama N.Y.P.D. that ran on ABC from 1967–69. The firm, Talent Associates
, was bought out by Norton Simon, Inc. in August 1968 for an undisclosed price, with the commitment that the unit would operate independently and the principals would stay on in senior positions to manage the company.
Together with Joseph E. Levine
of Embassy Pictures
, Susskind and Melnick produced the Broadway theatre
musical comedy Kelly
, by Eddie Lawrence
and Mark Charlap
. Promotion for the play included an event on the Brooklyn Bridge with a series of chorus girls. The play, a story about the 1886 incident of Steve Brodie who (claimed to have) jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge
and survived, opened on February 16, 1965. The play lasted only one performance on Broadway, which was later described by Melnick's son as "not his favorite moment in history", but nonetheless one he wore with grace.
The 1971 psychological thriller
Straw Dogs was his first feature film. He was hired by MGM, where his films included the 1975 Neil Simon
comedy The Sunshine Boys
, the 1976 production of Paddy Chayefsky
's screenplay for Network
, directed by Sidney Lumet
, a satire of television production that was credited with boosting the studio's financial performance. he also mined the studio's archives to create the That's Entertainment!
series of compilation films. He was hired by Columbia Pictures
as its president in June 1978 to replace David Begelman
, who had resigned in the wake of an embezzlement scandal. There he oversaw the development of the 1978 picture Midnight Express
and the 1979 films Kramer vs. Kramer
and The China Syndrome
.
In 1980, he moved to 20th Century Fox
where he completed Bob Fosse
's All That Jazz
, with Fox paying for filming that Columbia would not finance. That same year he produced Altered States
with Warner Brothers, an adaptation of a Chayefsky novel that Columbia was unwilling to fund. Melnick's later films included the Steve Martin
1987 comedy Roxanne
, an adaption of the classic play Cyrano de Bergerac
, and the 1999 action comedy Blue Streak
(1999), which was his final film credit.
and his wife, Dorothy Feiner, in February 1955 at the Manhattan
home of her parents. Their son, Peter Rodgers Melnick
http://www.petermelnick.com/Bio.htm, became a composer. He fathered a daughter after the couple divorced in 1971.
His regular poker game would include such Hollywood notables as Johnny Carson
, Chevy Chase
, Barry Diller
, Steve Martin
, Carl Reiner
and Neil Simon
.
Melnick was active in the Santa Barbara, California
Jewish community, serving on the board of the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League
and writing on behalf of Jewish causes and Israel. He learned to chant the Torah
and celebrated his bar mitzvah in his 60s. He wrote Jewish-themed music, including pieces based on Shema Yisrael
and Song of Songs
, as well as a Festival Shehecheyanu
, based on the traditional Jewish prayer recited to celebrate special occasions, which he composed to honor his synagogue.
Melnick died at the age of 77 on October 13, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles
of lung cancer
. He was survived by a daughter, a son and two grandchildren.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as All That Jazz
All That Jazz
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Bob Fosse's manic effort to edit his...
, Altered States
Altered States
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction-horror film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that Chayefsky ever wrote, as well as his final film. Both the novel and the film are based on John C...
and Straw Dogs. Melnick's films won more than 20 Academy Awards out of some 80 nominations.
Early life and education
Melnick was born on April 21, 1932, in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to Benjamin Melnick, a Jewish immigrant from 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...
who was killed in a car crash when Melnick was a child. His mother, Celia, remarried, and Melnick attended the High School of Performing Arts
High School of Performing Arts
The High School of Performing Arts, more formally known as The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, informally known as "PA", was a public alternative high school in New York, New York, USA that existed from 1948 through...
. After high school, Melnick attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He served 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...
during the 1950s, where he produced entertainment for troops while stationed at New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's Fort Dix and in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
Television, film and theater
After relocating to Hollywood as a 19-year old, he became CBS Television's youngest producer, and then shortly thereafter was hired by ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, where he worked on the development of such programs as The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
and The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
. Melnick became an independent producer, forming a company with David Susskind
David Susskind
David Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
that produced the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning TV productions aired on CBS, with Ages of Man
Ages of Man
The Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Greek mythology. Two classical authors in particular offer accounts of the successive ages of mankind, which tend to progress from an original, long-gone age in which humans enjoyed a nearly divine existence to the current...
starring John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
in 1966, which included readings from William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's works ranging from Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
to Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
, with critic Jack Gould
Jack Gould
Jack Gould was an American journalist and critic, who wrote influential commentary about television....
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...
calling it "a viewing occasion to be treasured". In 1967 they presented Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
, starring Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
, a production that Jack Gould of The Times described as one "that will stand as the supreme understanding of the tragedy of Willy Loman." They also produced the secret agent satire Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
that ran from 1965 to 1970 on CBS and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, as well as the police drama N.Y.P.D. that ran on ABC from 1967–69. The firm, Talent Associates
Talent Associates
Talent Associates, Ltd. , was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert.-Origins:...
, was bought out by Norton Simon, Inc. in August 1968 for an undisclosed price, with the commitment that the unit would operate independently and the principals would stay on in senior positions to manage the company.
Together with Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
of Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
, Susskind and Melnick produced the Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical comedy Kelly
Kelly (musical)
Kelly is a musical with a book and lyrics by Eddie Lawrence and music by Mark Charlap. It was inspired by Steve Brodie, who in 1886 claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived...
, by Eddie Lawrence
Eddie Lawrence
Eddie Lawrence is an American monologist, actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, director and television personality, whose unique comic creation, the eternally and bizarrely optimistic Old Philosopher, has gained him a devoted, although specialized, cult following for over five decades.-Early...
and Mark Charlap
Mark Charlap
Mark "Moose" Charlap was a Jewish-American Broadway composer. Born Morris Isaac Charlip in Philadelphia, he was best known for "Peter Pan" , for which Carolyn Leigh wrote the lyrics. The idea to do the show came from Jerome Robbins, who planned to have a few songs by Charlap and Leigh...
. Promotion for the play included an event on the Brooklyn Bridge with a series of chorus girls. The play, a story about the 1886 incident of Steve Brodie who (claimed to have) jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
and survived, opened on February 16, 1965. The play lasted only one performance on Broadway, which was later described by Melnick's son as "not his favorite moment in history", but nonetheless one he wore with grace.
The 1971 psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
Straw Dogs was his first feature film. He was hired by MGM, where his films included the 1975 Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
comedy The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys (film)
The Sunshine Boys is a 1975 comedy film directed by Herbert Ross and produced by Ray Stark, based on the play of the same name by Neil Simon. The cast included real-life experienced vaudevillian actor George Burns as Lewis, Walter Matthau as Clark, and Richard Benjamin as Ben, with Lee Meredith, F....
, the 1976 production of Paddy Chayefsky
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
's screenplay for Network
Network (film)
Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
, directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, a satire of television production that was credited with boosting the studio's financial performance. he also mined the studio's archives to create the That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It was followed by two sequels and a related film called That's Dancing!....
series of compilation films. He was hired by 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...
as its president in June 1978 to replace David Begelman
David Begelman
David Begelman was a Hollywood producer who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s.-Agent and studio head:...
, who had resigned in the wake of an embezzlement scandal. There he oversaw the development of the 1978 picture Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
and the 1979 films Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son...
and The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film that tells the story of a reporter and cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. It stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Richard Herd, and Wilford Brimley.The film was...
.
In 1980, he moved to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
where he completed Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
's All That Jazz
All That Jazz
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Bob Fosse's manic effort to edit his...
, with Fox paying for filming that Columbia would not finance. That same year he produced Altered States
Altered States
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction-horror film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that Chayefsky ever wrote, as well as his final film. Both the novel and the film are based on John C...
with Warner Brothers, an adaptation of a Chayefsky novel that Columbia was unwilling to fund. Melnick's later films included the Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
1987 comedy Roxanne
Roxanne (film)
Roxanne is a 1987 comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi. It is a modern retelling of the 1897 verse play Cyrano de Bergerac, written by French author Edmond Rostand, and stars Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah.-Plot summary:...
, an adaption of the classic play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
, and the 1999 action comedy Blue Streak
Blue Streak (film)
Blue Streak is a 1999 American action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Martin Lawrence. The film is a remake of the 1965 British film The Big Job, although the original film is uncredited...
(1999), which was his final film credit.
Personal
He married Linda Rodgers, the daughter of Richard RodgersRichard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and his wife, Dorothy Feiner, in February 1955 at the 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...
home of her parents. Their son, Peter Rodgers Melnick
Peter Rodgers Melnick
Peter Rodgers Melnick is a composer for film, television and musical theatre.-Biography:Melnick is the son of Daniel Melnick and Linda Rodgers, and grandson of Richard Rodgers.Melnick grew up in New York City...
http://www.petermelnick.com/Bio.htm, became a composer. He fathered a daughter after the couple divorced in 1971.
His regular poker game would include such Hollywood notables as Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
and Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
.
Melnick was active in the Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
Jewish community, serving on the board of the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
and writing on behalf of Jewish causes and Israel. He learned to chant the Torah
Cantillation
Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to complement the letters and vowel points...
and celebrated his bar mitzvah in his 60s. He wrote Jewish-themed music, including pieces based on Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
and Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
, as well as a Festival Shehecheyanu
Shehecheyanu
The Shehecheyanu blessing is a common Jewish prayer said to celebrate special occasions. It is said to be thankful for new and unusual experiences. The blessing has been recited by Jews for nearly 2000 years...
, based on the traditional Jewish prayer recited to celebrate special occasions, which he composed to honor his synagogue.
Melnick died at the age of 77 on October 13, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. He was survived by a daughter, a son and two grandchildren.