Chetwynd, Lionel 1940- (Peter Dion)

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Chetwynd, Lionel 1940- (Peter Dion)

PERSONAL

Born January 29, 1940, in London, England; immigrated to Canada, 1948, naturalized citizen, 1953; naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Peter and Betty (maiden name, Dion) Chetwynd; married Gloria Carlin (an actress); children: Michael Anthony, Joshua Stephen. Education: Sir George Williams University, B.A., with honors, 1963; McGill University, B.C.L., 1967; further study at Trinity College, Oxford, 1968. Religion: Jewish. Avocational Interests: Ice hockey, youth baseball.

Addresses:

Agent—Bruce Vinokour, Creative Artists Agency, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067.

Career:

Producer, director, and writer. Called to the bar in Quebec, Canada, 1967; CBC-TV, Montreal, Quebec, on-camera personality, 1961-67; Columbia Pictures, London, England, began in department of acquisitions and distribution, became assistant managing director, 1968-72. Canadian Centre for Advanced Cinema Studies, member of executive board of directors, 1986; American Cinema Foundation, president, 1996-97. Frederick Douglass Center, lecturer, 1972-73; New York University, instructor, 1973-74; University of California, Los Angeles, lecturer, 1987-90, member of board of directors of Professional Friends of the Department of Film and Theatre. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, member of panel on sexuality and social policy. Committee for Reagan/Bush campaign, cochair of Arts and Entertainment Committee, 1978-80; American Jewish Committee, member of executive board of directors of Los Angeles chapter, 1988-92; affiliated with Commission on Battered Children and Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund; Little League, past member of board of directors. Military service: Canadian Army, Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment, 1956-58.

Member:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America (member of executive board, 1972-76; member of national executive board, 1975), Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, Canadian Bar Association, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Broadcast Music, Inc., University of California at Los Angeles, Film, Television, and Education Association (member of board of directors), Caucus of Writers, Producers, and Directors.

Awards, Honors:

Writers Guild of America Award, best adapted comedy, Silver Bear Award, Berlin International Film Festival, and Academy Award nomination, best screenplay adaptation, all (with Mordecai Richler) 1975, for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz; Montreal Award (with Richler), best dramatic writer for television, Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, 1975; George Washington Honor Medal, Freedoms Foundation, 1977, for Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye; Grand Award, Salonika Film Festival, 1979, for Two Solitudes; citation, American Women in Film and Television, 1979, for It Happened One Christmas; Christopher Award (with others), outstanding television film, 1981, for Miracle on Ice; Genie Award nomination, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, 1981, for The Hot Touch; Image Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1983, for Sadat; prize from Association Mondiale des Amis l'Enfance and award from Monte Carlo International Television Festival, both 1985, for Children in the Crossfire; Hillel Award, American Jewish Committee, and Christopher Award (with others), outstanding television film, both 1988, for Evil in Clear River; Patriots Award, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, and George Washington Honor Medal, both 1989, for "To Heal a Nation," General Electric Theatre; B'nai Zion Creative Achievement Award, 1990, for So Proudly We Hail; Television Award nomination, adapted long form category, Writers Guild of America, 1996, for Joseph; nomination for Television Producer of the Year Award (with Daniel H. Blatt), long form category, Producers Guild of America, 1996, Gemini Award nomination, best writing in a dramatic program, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, 1997, and Television Award nomination, adapted long form category, Writers Guild of America, 1997, all for Kissinger and Nixon; Annual CableACE Award nomination, outstanding writing for a movie or miniseries, National Cable Television Association, 1997, for The Man Who Captured Eichmann; Literary Award nomination, PEN USA, 1997, and Television Award nomination, original long form category, Writers Guild of America, 1999, both for Color of Justice; Gold Special Jury Award, best director, WorldFest Houston, 2001, and Television Award nomination, original long form category, Writers Guild of America, 2002, both for Varian's War; Emmy Award nomination (with others), outstanding made-for-television movie, 2004, and nomination for Humanitas Prize, ninety-minute or longer category, Human Family Educational and Cultural Institute, 2005, both for Ike: Countdown to D-Day.

CREDITS

Television Producer; Movies:

(With Gerry Arbeid) Goldenrod, CBS, 1977.

Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, NBC, 1977.

Coproducer, Evil in Clear River (also known as Hate on Trial and Winter in Clear River), ABC, 1988.

So Proudly We Hail (also known as Skinheads), CBS, 1990.

Color of Justice, Showtime, 1997.

(And director) Varian's War (also known as Varian Fry, un heros oublie), Showtime, 2000.

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, Showtime, 2003.

Television Executive Producer; Movies:

Kissinger and Nixon, TNT, 1995.

Ike: Countdown to D-Day, Arts and Entertainment, 2004.

Television Executive Producer; Specials:

"To Heal a Nation," General Electric Theatre, NBC, 1988.

"Fear in America," Reverse Angle, PBS, 1992.

"The Education Wars," Reverse Angle, PBS, 1993.

Co-executive producer (and director), Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents, PBS, 2002.

American Valor, PBS, 2003.

Television Executive Producer; Series:

(And creator) National Desk, PBS, 1997, 1999, 2000.

Television Director; Movies:

So Proudly We Hail (also known as Skinheads), CBS, 1990.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Hollywood, D.C.: A Tale of Two Cities, Bravo, 2000.

Casting Calls, Discovery Times, 2003.

Rated "R": Republicans in Hollywood, AMC, 2004.

Television Guest Appearances; Episodic:

The Alan Hamel Show, CTV, 1977.

Advanced English: Interviews with the Famous, 1995.

Dennis Miller, CNBC, 2004.

Film Director:

Morning Comes, Heritage Films, 1975.

Two Solitudes, New World-Mutual, 1978.

The Hanoi Hilton, Cannon, 1987.

Film Producer:

Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die (documentary; also known as C 41. 11), Citizens United, 2004.

WRITINGS

Television Miniseries:

(Uncredited) The Adams Chronicles, PBS, 1976.

Miracle on Ice, ABC, 1981.

Sadat, syndicated, 1983.

Joseph (also known as The Bible: Joseph, Die Bibel: Josef, and Joseph in Egypt), TNT, 1995.

Moses (also known as The Bible: Moses, Die Bibel—Moses, and La Bible: Moise), TNT, 1996.

Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy (also known as Incident at Ruby Ridge and The Siege at Ruby Ridge), CBS, 1996.

NetForce (also known as Tom Clancy's "Netforce"), ABC, 1999.

P. T. Barnum, Arts and Entertainment, 1999.

Television Movies:

Goldenrod (based on a novel by D. H. Harkin), CBS, 1977.

It Happened One Christmas (based on the film It's a Wonderful Life), ABC, 1977.

Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, NBC, 1977.

A Whale for the Killing (based on the book by Farley Mowat), ABC, 1980.

Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper (also known as Desert Blades; also based on a story by Chetwynd), CBS, 1981.

Children in the Crossfire, NBC, 1984.

(And song lyrics, "Tomorrow Will Be Mine") So Proudly We Hail, CBS, 1990.

Doomsday Gun, HBO, 1994.

Jacob (also known as Jacob: A TNT Bible Story and Die Bibel—Jacob), TNT, 1994.

Falling from the Sky! Flight 174 (also known as Freefall: Flight 174 and Vol 767 en detresse), ABC, 1995.

Kissinger and Nixon, TNT, 1995.

The Man Who Captured Eichmann, TNT, 1996.

Color of Justice, Showtime, 1997.

Human Bomb (also known as Die Menschliche bombe and Die Menschliche bombe-todesangst im klassenzimmer), 1998.

Varian's War (also known as Varian Fry, un heros oublie), Showtime, 2000.

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, Showtime, 2003.

Ike: Countdown to D-Day, Arts and Entertainment, 2004.

Television Specials:

"To Heal a Nation," General Electric Theatre, NBC, 1988.

The Heroes of Desert Storm, ABC, 1991.

"Fear in America," Reverse Angle, PBS, 1992.

"The Education Wars," Reverse Angle, PBS, 1993.

Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents, PBS, 2002.

American Valor, PBS, 2003.

Television Series:

Love of Life, 1974.

Television Episodes:

National Desk, PBS, 1999, 2000.

Also writer for episodes of Beacon Hill.

Screenplays:

(With Mordecai Richler) The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (also known as L'apprentissage de Duddy Kravitz; based on novel by Mordecai Richler), Paramount, 1974.

Morning Comes, Heritage Films, 1975.

The American 1776 (official U.S. bicentennial film), 1976.

Two Solitudes (based on a novel by Hugh McLennan), New World-Mutual, 1978.

The Hanoi Hilton, Cannon, 1987.

(Coauthor) Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die (documentary; also known as C 41.11), Citizens United, 2004.

We Fight to Be Free (short film), Greystone Communications, 2006.

According to some sources, author (as Peter Dion) of The Hot Touch, Astral Films, 1981.

Stage Plays:

Bleeding Great Orchids, London, then off-Broadway, 1971.

Maybe That's Your Problem (musical), London, 1971, published by Plays Inc., 1971.

(With others) We the People200, 1987.

ADAPTATIONS

The film Quintet, released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1979, is based on story by Chetwynd, Robert Altman, and Patricia Resnick.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

New Republic, April 27, 1987, p. 26.

New York, April 13, 1987, p. 90.

New York Times, September 8, 2003, p. A19.

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Chetwynd, Lionel 1940- (Peter Dion)

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