Jerry Ziesmer
Encyclopedia
Jerry Ziesmer is a career assistant director
for major Hollywood films, best recognized for the line "terminate with extreme prejudice
" in his acting role as a CIA
operative in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now
.
, to a postal employee and his wife, who was the daughter of Dutch immigrants. He graduated on a scholarship from Milwaukee's Rufus King High School
in 1957. He received a bachelors degree in acting from Northwestern University
in 1961. After graduation he moved to Beverly Hills and took a job as a United States Post Office employee and later, a part time junior high school teacher. In 1964 he married Mary Kate Denny, with whom he had three children. He later obtained a masters degree from UCLA. He received a Directors Guild training certificate for assistant directors in 1969, applying to the program after reading an advertisement in Variety Magazine.
. His first uncredited film job was as a trainee in Hello, Dolly!. His credits include The Way We Were
, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
, Scarface
, Illegally Yours
, Midnight Run
, History of the World, Part I
, Annie
, Say Anything
, Almost Famous
, and Jerry Maguire
. He took small acting parts in some of his films, for example playing a pilot in Blue Thunder
and a salesman in Rocky II
. His most famous role is as a civilian intelligence agent in Francis Ford Coppola
's Vietnam War
film, Apocalypse Now, in which he utters what some call the film's most memorable line, "Terminate, with extreme prejudice", to instruct the film's lead character to carry out an assassination
. Coppola, who had searched for a suitable actor for months, gave the role to Ziesmer at the spur of the moment.
In 1981, Ziesmer re-met and began dating his high school girlfriend and 1957 prom date, Suzanne. They married in 1982. Suzanne joined him on-set, tutoring actors including Mel Gibson
.
In 2000 Ziesmer wrote a memoir
, Ready when You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe, that includes the most complete account of the production of Apocalypse Now.
Ziesmer served on the council of the Directors Guild of America
from 1987 to 1998, for three years as the chair. He helped establish a mentorship
program for women and minority directors. For many years he and his wife, Suzanne, taught an Assistant Director’s course at UCLA's Extension school. In 2006 he won the DGA's "Frank Capra Achievement Award", a career award given to assistant directors.
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
for major Hollywood films, best recognized for the line "terminate with extreme prejudice
Terminate with extreme prejudice
In military and other covert operations, terminate with extreme prejudice is a euphemism for execution . In a military intelligence context, it is generally understood as an order to assassinate...
" in his acting role as a CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
.
Early life
Jerry Ziesmer was born in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, to a postal employee and his wife, who was the daughter of Dutch immigrants. He graduated on a scholarship from Milwaukee's Rufus King High School
Rufus King High School
Rufus King International School--High School Campus, or Rufus King, is a public magnet high school located on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of the Milwaukee Public Schools district. The school has been consecutively ranked the top public high school in the state of Wisconsin by...
in 1957. He received a bachelors degree in acting from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1961. After graduation he moved to Beverly Hills and took a job as a United States Post Office employee and later, a part time junior high school teacher. In 1964 he married Mary Kate Denny, with whom he had three children. He later obtained a masters degree from UCLA. He received a Directors Guild training certificate for assistant directors in 1969, applying to the program after reading an advertisement in Variety Magazine.
Career
Ziesmer worked on more than 50 films, usually in the role of assistant directorAssistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
. His first uncredited film job was as a trainee in Hello, Dolly!. His credits include The Way We Were
The Way We Were
The Way We Were is a 1973 American romantic dramatic film co-starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay by Arthur Laurents was based on his college days at Cornell University and his experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee.A box...
, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey...
, Scarface
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
, Illegally Yours
Illegally Yours
Illegally Yours is a 1988 comedy film set in St. Augustine, Florida where a series of comic mishaps take place involving a blackmailer, a corpse, an incriminating audiotape, an innocent woman who accidentally picks up the tape, and a pair of teenage blackmail victims...
, Midnight Run
Midnight Run
Midnight Run is a 1988 American action comedy film starring Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his prisoner....
, History of the World, Part I
History of the World, Part I
History of the World, Part I is a 1981 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse...
, Annie
Annie (film)
Annie is a 1982 American musical film directed by John Huston and choreographed by Arlene Phillips. The film is an adaption of the 1977 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1924 Little Orphan Annie comic strip by Harold Gray. The movie features music by Charles Strouse,...
, Say Anything
Say Anything
Say Anything... is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. It was Crowe's directorial debut. In 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked Say Anything... as the greatest modern movie romance, and it was ranked number 11 on Entertainment Weeklys list of the 50 best...
, Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
, and Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. It was written, co-produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe...
. He took small acting parts in some of his films, for example playing a pilot in Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder is a 1983 feature film that features a high-tech helicopter of the same name. The movie was directed by John Badham and stars Roy Scheider...
and a salesman in Rocky II
Rocky II
Rocky II is a 1979 American film that is the sequel to Rocky, a motion picture in which an unknown boxer had been given a chance to go the distance with the World Heavyweight Champion. Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprised their...
. His most famous role is as a civilian intelligence agent in Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
film, Apocalypse Now, in which he utters what some call the film's most memorable line, "Terminate, with extreme prejudice", to instruct the film's lead character to carry out an assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
. Coppola, who had searched for a suitable actor for months, gave the role to Ziesmer at the spur of the moment.
In 1981, Ziesmer re-met and began dating his high school girlfriend and 1957 prom date, Suzanne. They married in 1982. Suzanne joined him on-set, tutoring actors including Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
.
In 2000 Ziesmer wrote a memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, Ready when You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe, that includes the most complete account of the production of Apocalypse Now.
Ziesmer served on the council of the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
from 1987 to 1998, for three years as the chair. He helped establish a mentorship
Mentorship
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
program for women and minority directors. For many years he and his wife, Suzanne, taught an Assistant Director’s course at UCLA's Extension school. In 2006 he won the DGA's "Frank Capra Achievement Award", a career award given to assistant directors.