Pandro S. Berman

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 illfated The Gay Diplomat 1931 Berman took over LeBarons responsibilities remaining in the post until 1939 After David O Selznick became chief of production at RKO in October 1931 Berman managed to survive Selznicks general firing of most of the staff Selznick named Berman producer for the adaptation of Fannie Hursts short story Night Bell a tale of a Jewish doctors 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 boxoffice 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 AstaireGinger 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 shakeups 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