Charles Guggenheim
Encyclopedia
Charles Guggenheim was an American
film director and producer.
, Ohio
. His father was a furniture salesman. While studying farming at Colorado A&M in 1943, Guggenheim was draft
ed into the United States Army
assigned to the 106th Division
. Upon discharge from the service, he finished his college education at University of Iowa
and then moved to New York City
to pursue a career in broadcasting.
, where he was exposed to the new media of film and storytelling.
He was subsequently recruited to St. Louis
, Missouri
, to serve as director of one of the first public television stations in the country, KETC
. Two years later Guggenheim founded his film production company and produced his first feature film, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
, starring Steve McQueen
. In the early 1960s, Guggenheim formed a partnership with television and documentary film producer Shelby Storck
and he and Storck collaborated on several documentaries which were nominated for and/or won Academy Awards
. Guggenheim received his first Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
for 1964's Nine from Little Rock
, about the desegregation effort in Little Rock
, Arkansas
, in 1957. Storck and Guggenheim also collaborated on a well-received political film for Pennsylvania
governor Milton Shapp
in 1966. That year, Guggenheim moved his company and his family to Washington, D.C.
, where he became a media advisor to many Democratic
political figures. He worked on four presidential campaigns and hundreds of gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns.
Guggenheim worked on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign; after Sen. Kennedy was assassinated, Guggenheim was asked by the Kennedy family to put together a tribute for the 1968 Chicago Convention. It was completed in less than two months. It was shown at the convention and broadcast simultaneously. The convention hall came to a standstill for twenty minutes. The resulting film, Robert Kennedy Remembered
(1968), won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film
. Although Guggenheim occasionally ventured into feature and political film production, he stayed mostly with documentary film
s. He won two more Oscars for short subject documentary filmmaking, for The Johnstown Flood
(1989) and A Time for Justice
(1995). He received twelve nominations in total.
His last documentary, was produced with his daughter and colleague (since 1986) Grace Guggenheim. Berga: Soldiers of Another War (2003) (TV), a little known story about a group of 350 American soldiers captured by the Nazis
during the Battle of the Bulge
who, because they were Jewish or the Nazis thought they "looked Jewish", were sent to slave labor camp and worked beside civilian political prisoners. (Guggenheim, who was Jewish, had himself been a member of the 106th Division, which had the highest casualty rate of the Allied Divisions. But a severe leg infection caused him to be left behind when his unit was shipped overseas.) Guggenheim finished the film six weeks before his death in October 2002 from pancreatic cancer
. Soldiers and Slaves, a companion book to the film, was published by Roger Cohen, New York Times
and Herald Tribune
columnists using research materials.
, Grace, and Jonathan. Davis
followed in his father's footsteps as a documentary filmmaker and won an Oscar for best documentary in 2007 for An Inconvenient Truth
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director and producer.
Early life
Guggenheim was born into a prominent German Jewish family in CincinnatiCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. His father was a furniture salesman. While studying farming at Colorado A&M in 1943, Guggenheim was draft
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
ed into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
assigned to the 106th Division
U.S. 106th Infantry Division
The 106th Infantry Division was a division of the United States Army, formed for service during World War II. Two of its three regiments were overrun and surrounded in the initial days of the Battle of the Bulge, and forced to surrender on 19 December 1944....
. Upon discharge from the service, he finished his college education at University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to pursue a career in broadcasting.
Career
Guggenheim's first job was working for Lew Cohen at CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, where he was exposed to the new media of film and storytelling.
He was subsequently recruited to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, to serve as director of one of the first public television stations in the country, KETC
KETC
KETC is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by St. Louis Regional Public Media, the call letters KETC represent the St. Louis Educational Television Comission, the former name of the organization responsible for bringing public television...
. Two years later Guggenheim founded his film production company and produced his first feature film, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery is a 1959 heist film shot in black and white. The noir film stars Steve McQueen as a college dropout hired to be the getaway driver in a bank robbery. The film is based on a 1953 bank robbery attempt of Southwest Bank in St. Louis. The film was shot on location in...
, starring Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
. In the early 1960s, Guggenheim formed a partnership with television and documentary film producer Shelby Storck
Shelby Storck
Shelby William Storck was an American newscaster, actor, writer, journalist, public relations specialist, and motion picture and television producer-director. He was a radio actor on The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and other programs, and appeared in the feature films The Delinquents and The...
and he and Storck collaborated on several documentaries which were nominated for and/or won Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. Guggenheim received his first Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
This is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.-1940s:*1941...
for 1964's Nine from Little Rock
Nine from Little Rock
Nine from Little Rock is a 1964 short documentary film directed by Charles Guggenheim. It won an Academy Award in 1965 for Documentary Short Subject.-Cast:* Jefferson Thomas - Himself - Narrator...
, about the desegregation effort in Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, in 1957. Storck and Guggenheim also collaborated on a well-received political film for Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
governor Milton Shapp
Milton Shapp
Milton Jerrold Shapp was the 40th Governor of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and was the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.- Early life :...
in 1966. That year, Guggenheim moved his company and his family to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he became a media advisor to many Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
political figures. He worked on four presidential campaigns and hundreds of gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns.
Guggenheim worked on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign; after Sen. Kennedy was assassinated, Guggenheim was asked by the Kennedy family to put together a tribute for the 1968 Chicago Convention. It was completed in less than two months. It was shown at the convention and broadcast simultaneously. The convention hall came to a standstill for twenty minutes. The resulting film, Robert Kennedy Remembered
Robert Kennedy Remembered
Robert Kennedy Remembered is a 1968 short documentary film produced by Charles Guggenheim. It won an Academy Award in 1969 for Best Short Subject....
(1968), won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film
Academy Award for Live Action Short Film
This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...
. Although Guggenheim occasionally ventured into feature and political film production, he stayed mostly with documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s. He won two more Oscars for short subject documentary filmmaking, for The Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood (1989 film)
The Johnstown Flood is a 1989 short documentary film directed by Charles Guggenheim about the Johnstown Flood. It won the Academy Award at the 62nd Academy Awards for Documentary Short Subject.-Release history:...
(1989) and A Time for Justice
A Time for Justice
A Time for Justice is a 1994 short documentary film produced by Charles Guggenheim. It won an Academy Award in 1995 for Documentary Short Subject. The film was produced by Guggenheim and the Southern Poverty Law Center.-External links:...
(1995). He received twelve nominations in total.
His last documentary, was produced with his daughter and colleague (since 1986) Grace Guggenheim. Berga: Soldiers of Another War (2003) (TV), a little known story about a group of 350 American soldiers captured by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
who, because they were Jewish or the Nazis thought they "looked Jewish", were sent to slave labor camp and worked beside civilian political prisoners. (Guggenheim, who was Jewish, had himself been a member of the 106th Division, which had the highest casualty rate of the Allied Divisions. But a severe leg infection caused him to be left behind when his unit was shipped overseas.) Guggenheim finished the film six weeks before his death in October 2002 from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. Soldiers and Slaves, a companion book to the film, was published by Roger Cohen, New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
columnists using research materials.
Personal life
Guggenheim married Marion Streett in 1957. They had three children: DavisDavis Guggenheim
Philip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman...
, Grace, and Jonathan. Davis
Davis Guggenheim
Philip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman...
followed in his father's footsteps as a documentary filmmaker and won an Oscar for best documentary in 2007 for An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
.