Marshall Flaum
Encyclopedia
Marshall Allen Flaum was an American
Emmy Award
-winning documentary
and television director
, producer
and screenwriter
. In addition to his five Emmy Awards, Flaum earned two Academy Award nominations for his work on the documentary films The Yanks Are Coming in 1963 and Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
in 1965.
Flaum was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
, New York
, on September 13, 1925, and was raised in Union City, New Jersey
. He enlisted in the United States Army
during World War II
. Flaum earned a bachelor's degree
in acting from the University of Iowa
in 1948.
He pursued a career as a stage actor following his graduation from Iowa. Flaum returned to New York City
, where he studied with acting teacher Lee Strasberg
while appearing on Broadway
. His Broadway credits during the period he studied under Strasberg included the 1950 production of Romeo and Juliet
, which starred Olivia de Havilland
, and Julius Caesar
in 1951, in which he appeared opposite Basil Rathbone
.
In 1957, Flaum joined the staff of the CBS
documentary television series, Twentieth Century
, hosted by Walter Cronkite
, as a story editor
, producer and writer. He won his first two Emmy Awards for his work as a writer for segments on the show.
He relocated to the Los Angeles
area in 1962, where he took a position in David L. Wolper
's production company
. His credits at Wolper's company included Hollywood: The Selznick
Years and
The Battle of Britain. Flaum produced Hollywood documentaries covering such notables as Humphrey Bogart
and Bing Crosby
.
His 1963 Academy Award-nominated documentary The Yanks are Coming told the story of the military history of the United States in World War I
, integrating music of the time with historical footage. His 1965 documentary Let My People Go: The Story of Israel provided a history of the creation of the State of Israel in the wake of The Holocaust
, earning an Academy Award nomination in 1965. Let My People Go was described by critic Donald Kirkley of The Baltimore Sun
as being "one of those rare programs which remind us of the heights to which television can soar when it is at its best.".
He earned a pair of Emmy Awards in 1972 for segments on dolphin
s and sea otter
s that were broadcast as part of the The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
. His fifth Emmy Award came the following year, when he was recognized for producing Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Wild Dogs of Africa.
Flaum died at the age of 85 on October 1, 2010, in Los Angeles due to complications of hip surgery. He was survived by his wife, the former Gita Miller, as well as by a daughter, a son and two grandchildren. Both of his children were film editors
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
and television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
, 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 screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. In addition to his five Emmy Awards, Flaum earned two Academy Award nominations for his work on the documentary films The Yanks Are Coming in 1963 and Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel is a 1965 documentary film directed by Marshall Flaum. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1965 and won the United Nations Award in 1961 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts...
in 1965.
Flaum was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, on September 13, 1925, and was raised in Union City, New Jersey
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
. He enlisted 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 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...
. Flaum earned a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in acting from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1948.
He pursued a career as a stage actor following his graduation from Iowa. Flaum returned to New York City
New 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...
, where he studied with acting teacher Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
while appearing on Broadway
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...
. His Broadway credits during the period he studied under Strasberg included the 1950 production of 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...
, which starred Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
in 1951, in which he appeared opposite Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
.
In 1957, Flaum joined the staff of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
documentary television series, Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century (TV series)
The Twentieth Century is a half-hour documentary television series broadcast over CBS-TV from 1957 until 1966. It was hosted and narrated by Walter Cronkite and telecast Sunday evenings...
, hosted by Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, as a story editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....
, producer and writer. He won his first two Emmy Awards for his work as a writer for segments on the show.
He relocated to the 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...
area in 1962, where he took a position in David L. Wolper
David L. Wolper
David Lloyd Wolper was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...
's production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
. His credits at Wolper's company included Hollywood: The Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
Years and
The Battle of Britain. Flaum produced Hollywood documentaries covering such notables as Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
.
His 1963 Academy Award-nominated documentary The Yanks are Coming told the story of the military history of the United States in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, integrating music of the time with historical footage. His 1965 documentary Let My People Go: The Story of Israel provided a history of the creation of the State of Israel in the wake of The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, earning an Academy Award nomination in 1965. Let My People Go was described by critic Donald Kirkley of The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
as being "one of those rare programs which remind us of the heights to which television can soar when it is at its best.".
He earned a pair of Emmy Awards in 1972 for segments on dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s and sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s that were broadcast as part of the The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau is a nonfiction documentary television series focusing on marine biodiversity, hosted by French filmmaker, researcher and marine explorer, Jacques Cousteau. New episodes of the series aired from 1968 until 1975....
. His fifth Emmy Award came the following year, when he was recognized for producing Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Wild Dogs of Africa.
Flaum died at the age of 85 on October 1, 2010, in Los Angeles due to complications of hip surgery. He was survived by his wife, the former Gita Miller, as well as by a daughter, a son and two grandchildren. Both of his children were film editors
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
.