Daniel Melnick, Hollywood Producer, Dies at 77
Daniel Melnick, a producer and studio executive who brought an innovative and often unconventional sensibility to films that included “Straw Dogs,” “All That Jazz” and “Altered States,” died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 77.
His son, Peter, confirmed his death, saying he had ailments that included lung cancer.
Mr. Melnick’s movies won more than 80 Academy Award nominations and more than two dozen Academy Awards.
Among his many positions were working with major studios as an independent producer and being president of Columbia Pictures in 1978. In the 1960s his extensive work on television included helping produce “Get Smart” (1965-70), the popular spoof of spy dramas that starred Don Adams. It first appeared on NBC, then CBS.
When Mr. Melnick was named president of Columbia in June 1978, leading directors, many of whom had worked with him when he was head of production at MGM in the first half of the 1970s, applauded. The New York Times said his admirers included Paddy Chayefsky, Sidney Lumet, Bob Fosse and Steven Spielberg.
In an interview with The Times, Mr. Spielberg said: “A lot of studio executives ride the fence between the creative element and the corporate investor. Few have bent over as far in the direction of the filmmaker as Dan Melnick.”
But Mr. Melnick survived admirably in the shark tank of Hollywood, partly because of his ability to jump from one prestigious creative position to the next. In an article in The New York Times Magazine in 1980, Aljean Harmetz wrote, “Melnick has always ridden the cutting edge of new Hollywood trends without ever losing his balance or getting blood on his feet.”
Read entire article at NYT
His son, Peter, confirmed his death, saying he had ailments that included lung cancer.
Mr. Melnick’s movies won more than 80 Academy Award nominations and more than two dozen Academy Awards.
Among his many positions were working with major studios as an independent producer and being president of Columbia Pictures in 1978. In the 1960s his extensive work on television included helping produce “Get Smart” (1965-70), the popular spoof of spy dramas that starred Don Adams. It first appeared on NBC, then CBS.
When Mr. Melnick was named president of Columbia in June 1978, leading directors, many of whom had worked with him when he was head of production at MGM in the first half of the 1970s, applauded. The New York Times said his admirers included Paddy Chayefsky, Sidney Lumet, Bob Fosse and Steven Spielberg.
In an interview with The Times, Mr. Spielberg said: “A lot of studio executives ride the fence between the creative element and the corporate investor. Few have bent over as far in the direction of the filmmaker as Dan Melnick.”
But Mr. Melnick survived admirably in the shark tank of Hollywood, partly because of his ability to jump from one prestigious creative position to the next. In an article in The New York Times Magazine in 1980, Aljean Harmetz wrote, “Melnick has always ridden the cutting edge of new Hollywood trends without ever losing his balance or getting blood on his feet.”