Daniel Melnick

Daniel Melnick (April 21, 1932 – October 13, 2009) was an American film producer. He began his career in Hollywood as a teenager in television and later became the producer of such films as All That Jazz, Altered States and Straw Dogs. Melnick's films won more than 20 Academy Awards out of some 80 nominations. During the 1950s, Melnick served in the United States Army where he produced entertainment for troops while stationed at New Jersey's Fort Dix and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. ABC paid for a pilot episode, but did not purchase the series, so Melnick turned to Grant Tinker at NBC, who had Don Adams under contract and were looking for a project for the comedian.

Talent Associates produced the Emmy Award-winning TV productions aired on CBS, with Ages of Man starring John Gielgud in 1966, which included readings from William Shakespeare's works ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Richard II, with critic Jack Gould of The New York Times calling it "a viewing occasion to be treasured". In 1967 they presented Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, starring Lee J. Cobb, a production that Jack Gould of The Times described as one "that will stand as the supreme understanding of the tragedy of Willy Loman." The firm, Talent Associates, was bought out by Norton Simon, Inc. in August 1968 for an undisclosed price, with the commitment that the unit would operate independently and the principals would stay on in senior positions to manage the company.

Together with Joseph E. Levine of Embassy Pictures, Susskind and Melnick produced the Broadway theatre musical comedy Kelly, by Eddie Lawrence and Mark Charlap. Promotion for the play included an event on the Brooklyn Bridge with a series of chorus girls. The play, a story about the 1886 incident of Steve Brodie who (claimed to have) jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived, opened on February 16, 1965. The play lasted only one performance on Broadway, which was later described by Melnick's son as "not his favorite moment in history", but nonetheless one he wore with grace. At that time, MGM was in a financial decline with the studio scaling back production but while head of the studio, he produced several well-received films including the 1975 Neil Simon comedy The Sunshine Boys (1975) and Paddy Chayefsky's Network, directed by Sidney Lumet, a biting satire of television production that was credited with boosting the studio's financial performance during 1976. In 1976, he left MGM to start IndieProductions (later known as The IndieProd Company) at Columbia Pictures.

Columbia He was hired by Columbia Pictures as its president in June 1978 to replace David Begelman, who had resigned in the wake of an embezzlement scandal. There he oversaw the development of the 1978 picture Midnight Express and the 1979 films Kramer vs. Kramer and The China Syndrome. In 1989, the company set up a joint partnership with Rastar Productions to start a joint venture Rastar/IndieProd at Carolco Pictures, headed by Nancy Tanen and Tracy Barone, both of them would eventually join Channel Productions briefly in 1993. In 1992, Carolco sold off IndieProd, becoming an independent production company once again, and received a four-year $350 million distribution pact with TriStar Pictures and Japan Satellite Broadcasting in order to invest money into their own films.

Personal life In February 1955, Melnick married Linda Rodgers, the daughter of Richard Rodgers and Dorothy Feiner Rodgers, at her parents' home in Manhattan. Their son, Peter Rodgers Melnick, became a composer. After he and Linda Rodgers divorced in 1971, Melnick fathered a daughter.

Melnick was known for personal elegance and refined tastes in art, dress, and architecture. A thinker, he often offered sage advice, once telling a young assistant that "the best contracts are written not in the thrall of a new marriage but with the possibility of a divorce in mind."

He once said to the same assistant that, when facing a business dilemma, he would sometimes ask himself what the 17th-century French statesman Cardinal Richelieu, whose genius for intrigue he admired, might do in a similar situation.

During Melnick's days on the 20th Century-Fox lot, some of his staffers would affectionately refer to him (albeit privately) as Mel Nick. The inspiration for the name arose when deliverymen arrived in front of the unmarked Indieprod building with a wardrobe box of clothes from Ralph Lauren – on which someone had scrawled in large letters MEL and below it NICK. Not knowing who he was or where to find him, one shouted, "We're looking for a Mel Nick! There a Mel Nick around here?"

In regard to producing films, Melnick once reminded one of his assistants, who he thought was working too hard, that "this business is supposed to be fun."

His regular poker games would include such Hollywood notables as Johnny Carson, Chevy Chase, Barry Diller, Steve Martin, Carl Reiner and Neil Simon.

Melnick died at the age of 77 on October 13, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles of lung cancer. He was survived by a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren.

Select credits He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film Year Film Credit Notes Other notes 1971 Straw Dogs 1979 All That Jazz Executive producer 1980 First Family Altered States Executive producer 1982 Making Love 1984 Unfaithfully Yours Executive producer Footloose Executive producer 1986 Quicksilver 1987 Roxanne 1988 Punchline 1990 Mountains of the Moon Air America 1991 L.A. Story 1999 Universal Soldier: The Return Executive producer Blue Streak Executive producer 2004 Air America: Operation Jaguar Executive producer Direct-to-video Final film as a producer

As Head of MGM

Year Film 1972 They Only Kill Their Masters 1973 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing Westworld 1975 The Sunshine Boys 1976 Network

Thanks

Year Film Role 1998 Smoke Signals Thanks

Television Year Title Credit Notes 1953 The Bob Crosby Show Associate producer 1963 The DuPont Show of the Week Executive producer 1963−64 Hootenanny Executive producer 1964 East Side/West Side Executive producer Mr. Broadway Executive producer 1966 Ages of Man Television film Death of a Salesman Television film ABC Stage 67 Run, Buddy, Run Executive producer 1967 Good Company Executive producer The Desperate Hours Television film 1967−68 He & She 1968 Penelope Beware! Television film 1967−69 N.Y.P.D. Executive producer 1968−69 The Generation Gap Executive producer 1989 Get Smart, Again! Executive producer Television film

Thanks

Year Title Role 2004 American Masters Thanks 2013 Special Collector's Edition In memory of