Zaentz, Saul 1921–

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ZAENTZ, Saul 1921


PERSONAL


Born February 28, 1921, in Passaic, NJ. Education: Rutgers University, degree (animal husbandry); attended a business college in St. Louis, MO.


Addresses: Office Saul Zaentz Co., 2600 10th St., Berkeley, CA 94710.


Career: Film producer. Saul Zaentz Film Co., Berkeley, CA, founder and principal; Fantasy Records, Berkeley, founder and music producer, beginning 1967. Military service: U.S. Army, served during World War II; served in Atlantic and Pacific theaters; became sergeant major.

Awards, Honors: Academy Award, best picture (with Michael Douglas), and producer of the year award (with Douglas), National Association of Theatre Owners, both 1976, for One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest; Academy Award, best picture, 1985, and Film Award nomination, best film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1986, both for Amadeus; Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures, Producers Guild of America, 1994; Academy Award, best picture, Film Award, best film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Vision Award in theatrical motion picture category and Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award, both Producers Guild of America, European Film Award nomination, best film, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best motion picture drama, International Press Academy, and Australian Film Institute Award nomination, best foreign film, all 1997, for The English Patient; Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1997; Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, American Cinema Editors, 1998; Special Prize for outstanding contribution to world cinema, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 1998.


CREDITS

Film Producer:

(With Michael Douglas) One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, United Artists, 1975.

(With Sy Gomberg) Three Warriors, Fantasy Films, 1977.

The Lord of the Rings (animated; also known as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings ), United Artists, 1978.

Amadeus (also known as Peter Shaffer's Amadeus ), Orion, 1984, released as Amadeus: The Director's Cut, 2002.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Orion, 1988.

At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Universal, 1991.

The English Patient, Miramax, 1996.

Film Executive Producer:

Payday, Cinerama, 1972.

The Mosquito Coast, Warner Bros., 1986.

Film Appearances:

Captain on shore when boat returns, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, United Artists, 1975.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Milos Forman: Portrait, PBS, 1989.

Interviewee, Saul Zaentz, Bravo, 1999.

(Uncredited; in archive footage) Hello, He Lied & Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches (also known as Hello, He Lied ), AMC, 2002.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

The 48th Annual Academy Awards, 1976.

The 69th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1997.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Himself, The Making of "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, " Warner Home Video, 2002.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Variety, January 13, 1997, p. 66.

Other:

Saul Zaentz (television special), Bravo, 1999.