Pandro S. Berman

Birthday:

03/28/1905

Place of birth:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA:

Biography:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905 – July 13, 1996), also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer. Berman was an assistant director during the 1920s under Mal St. Clair and Ralph Ince. In 1930, Berman was hired as a film editor at RKO Radio Pictures, then became an assistant producer. When RKO supervising producer William LeBaron walked out during production of the ill-fated The Gay Diplomat (1931), Berman took over LeBaron's responsibilities, remaining in the post until 1939. After David O. Selznick became chief of production at RKO in October 1931, Berman managed to survive Selznick's general firing of most of the staff. Selznick named Berman producer for the adaptation of Fannie Hurst's short story Night Bell, a tale of a Jewish doctor's rise out of the Lower East Side ghetto to the height of becoming a Park Avenue physician, which Selznick personally retitled Symphony of Six Million. He ordered Berman to have references to ethnic life in the Jewish ghetto restored. The movie was a box-office and critical success. Both Selznick and Berman were proud of the picture, with Berman later saying it was the "first good movie" he had produced. The Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals were in production during the Berman regime, Katharine Hepburn rose to prominence, and such RKO classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Gunga Din (both 1939) were completed. Upset when an RKO power play diminished his authority, Berman left for MGM in 1940, where he oversaw such productions as Ziegfeld Girl (1941), National Velvet (1944), The Bribe (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Butterfield 8 (1960). He survived several executive shake-ups at MGM and remained there until 1963, then went into independent production, closing out his career with the unsuccessful Move (1970). Berman was the winner of the 1976 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Six of his films were nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture: The Gay Divorcee (1934), Alice Adams and Top Hat (both 1935), Stage Door (1937), Father of the Bride (1950), and Ivanhoe (1952). Berman died of congestive heart failure on July 13, 1996 in his Beverly Hills home, aged 91. He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California.



Credits

Move (1970)
Producer
Justine (1969)
Producer
A Patch of Blue (1965)
Producer
Honeymoon Hotel (1964)
Producer
The Prize (1963)
Producer
Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Producer
BUtterfield 8 (1960)
Producer
All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960)
Producer
The Reluctant Debutante (1958)
Producer
The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
Producer
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Producer
Something of Value (1957)
Producer
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
Producer
Bhowani Junction (1956)
Producer
Quentin Durward (1955)
Producer
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Producer
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Producer
Knights of the Round Table (1953)
Producer
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
Producer
Battle Circus (1953)
Producer
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
Producer
Ivanhoe (1952)
Producer
The Light Touch (1951)
Producer
Father's Little Dividend (1951)
Producer
Father of the Bride (1950)
Producer
The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
Producer
Madame Bovary (1949)
Producer
The Bribe (1949)
Producer
The Three Musketeers (1948)
Producer
Living in a Big Way (1947)
Producer
The Sea of Grass (1947)
Producer
Undercurrent (1946)
Producer
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Producer
National Velvet (1945)
Producer
The Seventh Cross (1944)
Producer
Dragon Seed (1944)
Producer
Slightly Dangerous (1943)
Producer
Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)
Producer
Rio Rita (1942)
Producer
Love Crazy (1941)
Producer
Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Producer
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Producer
Allegheny Uprising (1939)
Executive In Charge Of Production
5th Ave Girl (1939)
Executive In Charge Of Production
In Name Only (1939)
Executive In Charge Of Production
Bachelor Mother (1939)
Production Manager
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Production Manager
Gunga Din (1939)
Production Manager
Room Service (1938)
Producer
Carefree (1938)
Producer
Having Wonderful Time (1938)
Executive In Charge Of Production
Vivacious Lady (1938)
Executive In Charge Of Production
A Damsel in Distress (1937)
Producer
Stage Door (1937)
Producer
Shall We Dance (1937)
Producer
The Soldier and the Lady (1937)
Producer
Quality Street (1937)
Producer
That Girl from Paris (1936)
Producer
Winterset (1936)
Producer
The Big Game (1936)
Producer
Swing Time (1936)
Producer
Mary of Scotland (1936)
Producer
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Producer
Muss 'em Up (1936)
Producer
Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
Producer
I Dream Too Much (1935)
Producer
In Person (1935)
Producer
Top Hat (1935)
Producer
Alice Adams (1935)
Producer
Break of Hearts (1935)
Producer
Star of Midnight (1935)
Producer
Roberta (1935)
Producer
Romance in Manhattan (1935)
Producer
The Little Minister (1934)
Producer
By Your Leave (1934)
Producer
Wednesday's Child (1934)
Executive Producer
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Producer
Gridiron Flash (1934)
Producer
The Richest Girl in the World (1934)
Producer
The Age of Innocence (1934)
Producer
Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)
Executive Producer
The Fountain (1934)
Producer
Their Big Moment (1934)
Executive Producer
His Greatest Gamble (1934)
Executive Producer
Bachelor Bait (1934)
Executive Producer
Hat, Coat and Glove (1934)
Executive Producer
Of Human Bondage (1934)
Producer
We're Rich Again (1934)
Executive Producer
Let's Try Again (1934)
Executive Producer
Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934)
Executive Producer
Murder on the Blackboard (1934)
Executive Producer
The Life of Vergie Winters (1934)
Producer
Stingaree (1934)
Executive Producer
Where Sinners Meet (1934)
Executive Producer
Strictly Dynamite (1934)
Executive Producer
This Man Is Mine (1934)
Producer
Spitfire (1934)
Producer
Man of Two Worlds (1934)
Producer
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)
Producer
Ann Vickers (1933)
Producer
Morning Glory (1933)
Producer
Bed of Roses (1933)
Producer
The Silver Cord (1933)
Producer
Sweepings (1933)
Associate Producer
Christopher Strong (1933)
Associate Producer
The Monkey's Paw (1933)
Producer
The Half-Naked Truth (1932)
Associate Producer
The Age of Consent (1932)
Associate Producer
What Price Hollywood? (1932)
Associate Producer
Symphony of Six Million (1932)
Associate Producer
Find Your Man (1924)
Assistant Director
Money to Burns (1924)
Assistant Director
Fighting Blood (1923)
Assistant Director