Jennings Lang
Encyclopedia
Jennings Lang was an American
film
producer
, as well as a screenwriter
and actor
.
from New York City
, came to Hollywood in 1938 and set up an office as a talent agent
. In 1940 he joined the Jaffe agency and within a few years became the company's president, and came to be known as one of Hollywood's leading agents. In 1950 he joined the MCA
talent agency and two years later became vice president of MCA TV Limited; in this capacity, he worked with Universal Studios
and was involved in developing, creating, and selling new series in the 1950s and '60s, such as Wagon Train
, The Bob Cummings Show
, and McHale's Navy
. Also, Lang played a key role in making television movie
s a staple of TV programming.
In 1951, Lang was shot in the left inner thigh by film producer Walter Wanger
, who believed Lang was having an affair with his wife, actress Joan Bennett
; Lang survived, and Wanger, pleading insanity, served four months in prison.
Lang produced and executive-produced movies from 1969 to 1986; in the mid-1970s, Lang produced a series of major epics, including Airport 1975
and Earthquake
; the latter picture utilized Sensurround
to augment the onscreen action with sound waves that sent tremors throughout the theater.
A stroke
in 1983 forced Lang's retirement; he died of pneumonia
in 1996 in Palm Desert, California
. He was married to Monica Lewis from 1956 until his death in 1996. He was the father of film director
Rocky Lang, Robert Lang and pianist Mike Lang.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, as well as a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Biography
Lang, originally a lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
from 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...
, came to Hollywood in 1938 and set up an office as a talent agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
. In 1940 he joined the Jaffe agency and within a few years became the company's president, and came to be known as one of Hollywood's leading agents. In 1950 he joined the MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
talent agency and two years later became vice president of MCA TV Limited; in this capacity, he worked with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and was involved in developing, creating, and selling new series in the 1950s and '60s, such as Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, The Bob Cummings Show
The Bob Cummings Show
The Bob Cummings Show is an American sitcom starring Robert "Bob" Cummings which was produced from January 2, 1955 to September 15, 1959, and originally sponsored by R.J. Reynolds' Winston cigarettes...
, and McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...
. Also, Lang played a key role in making television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
s a staple of TV programming.
In 1951, Lang was shot in the left inner thigh by film producer Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
, who believed Lang was having an affair with his wife, actress Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
; Lang survived, and Wanger, pleading insanity, served four months in prison.
Lang produced and executive-produced movies from 1969 to 1986; in the mid-1970s, Lang produced a series of major epics, including Airport 1975
Airport 1975
Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It stars Charlton Heston and Karen Black and is directed by Jack Smight....
and Earthquake
Earthquake (film)
Earthquake is a 1974 American disaster film that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations...
; the latter picture utilized Sensurround
Sensurround
Sensurround is the trademark name for a process developed in the 1970s by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings...
to augment the onscreen action with sound waves that sent tremors throughout the theater.
A stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1983 forced Lang's retirement; he died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1996 in Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
. He was married to Monica Lewis from 1956 until his death in 1996. He was the father of film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Rocky Lang, Robert Lang and pianist Mike Lang.
Producer
- Tell Them Willie Boy Is HereTell Them Willie Boy Is HereTell Them Willie Boy Is Here is a Technicolor movie released in 1969, based on the true story of a Paiute Indian named Willie Boy and his run-in with the law in 1909 in Banning, California, United States....
(1969) - Act of the Heart (1970)
- The BeguiledThe BeguiledThe Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
(1971) - They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants (film)They Might Be Giants is a 1971 film based on the play of the same name starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Occasionally cited mistakenly as a Broadway play, it never in fact opened in the USA...
(1971) - Play Misty for MePlay Misty for MePlay Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton.-Plot:...
(1971) - Slaughterhouse-FiveSlaughterhouse-Five (film)Slaughterhouse-Five is a 1972 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel of the same name. The screenplay is by Stephen Geller and the film was directed by George Roy Hill. It stars Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and Valerie Perrine, and features Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Holly Near, and Perry King. The...
(1972) - The Great Northfield Minnesota RaidThe Great Northfield Minnesota RaidThe Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is a 1972 Technicolor Western film about the James-Younger Gang distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Philip Kaufman in a cinéma vérité style and starred Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger, Robert Duvall as Jesse James, Luke Askew as Jim Younger, R....
(1972) - Pete 'n' TilliePete 'n' TilliePete 'n' Tillie is a 1972 American comedy-drama film starring Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett in the title roles. Its advertising tagline was "Honeymoon's over...
(1972) - High Plains DrifterHigh Plains DrifterHigh Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film, with a hint of the supernatural, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. Eastwood plays a mysterious gunfighter hired by the residents of a corrupt frontier mining town...
(1973) - Charley VarrickCharley VarrickCharley Varrick is a 1973 crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. The film was based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese.-Plot:...
(1973) - BreezyBreezyBreezy is a 1973 American romantic drama film, starring William Holden and Kay Lenz. It was written by Jo Heims, and was the third film directed by Clint Eastwood, who appears uncredited as a man in crowd on a pier.-Plot:...
(1973) - Airport 1975Airport 1975Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It stars Charlton Heston and Karen Black and is directed by Jack Smight....
(1974) - EarthquakeEarthquake (film)Earthquake is a 1974 American disaster film that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations...
(1974)
- The Front PageThe Front Page (1974 film)The Front Page is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1928 play of the same title by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, which was previously adapted for the screen under its...
(1974) - SwashbucklerSwashbuckler (film)Swashbuckler is a romantic adventure film produced in the U.S. by Universal Studios and released in 1976. It is a story that takes place in Jamaica in 1718 about a band of buccaneer pirates, led by Captain “Red” Ned Lynch, pitted against a greedy overlord, evil Lord Durant...
(1976) - Airport '77Airport '77Airport '77 is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise.The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, Airport '77 was a box office hit earning US$30 million and...
(1977) - Rollercoaster (1977)
- House Calls (1978)
- Nunzio (1978)
- The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)
- House CallsHouse CallsHouse Calls might refer to:* Housecall, a visit at home from a doctor*House Calls , a 1978 motion picture that starred Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney and Richard Benjamin...
(1979, TV series) - The Nude BombThe Nude BombThe Nude Bomb is a 1980 comedy film based on the television series Get Smart. It starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner...
(1980) - Little Miss Marker (1980)
- MasadaMasada (miniseries)Masada is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in April 1981. Advertised by the network as an "ABC Novel for Television," it was a fictionalized account of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Israel by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. The TV series' script is based on...
(1981, TV miniseriesMiniseriesA miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
) - The Sting IIThe Sting IIThe Sting II is an 1983 film sequel to The Sting. Directed by Jeremy Kagan and written by David S. Ward , it stars Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden and Oliver Reed...
(1983) - StickStick (film)Stick is a 1985 crime film directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard.-Plot:Ernest "Stick" Stickley, a former car thief, has just been released from prison. He meets up with an old friend, Rainy, whose "quick stop" near the Florida Everglades...
(1986)
Presenter
- Play Misty for MePlay Misty for MePlay Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton.-Plot:...
(1971) - The Eiger SanctionThe Eiger Sanction (film)The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 American action thriller based on the novel The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian, a pseudonym for the American author, Dr. Rodney William Whitaker. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.-Plot:Dr...
(1975)