Joe Pasternak
Encyclopedia
Joseph Herman Pasternak (September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was a Hungarian
-born American
film producer in Hollywood.
Born to a Jewish family in Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary
(now Şimleu Silvaniei
, Sălaj County
, Romania
), Pasternak was a successful film producer
in Germany
and Austria
by the time he was 28 years old.
Pasternak worked for Universal Pictures
in Europe, where he made German-language musicals for the international market. He hit upon a successful formula, building light musical comedies around an adolescent soprano (Franciska Gaal
). Following the establishment of the Nazi regime
, Pasternak emigrated to Universal's Hollywood studio in 1936. He adapted his usual format for English-speaking audiences, casting 14-year-old Canadian singer Deanna Durbin
in Three Smart Girls
. The film became a huge hit and saved Universal from bankruptcy. Pasternak produced a string of Durbin musicals, and soon discovered another talented soprano, Gloria Jean
. who began her own successful series in 1939. Pasternak proved to be a real asset for the studio, generating a number of popular films through 1941, including Destry Rides Again
and Seven Sinners.
In 1941 Pasternak moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, where he continued to produce operetta films, featuring the rich singing voices of Kathryn Grayson
, Jane Powell
, and Mario Lanza
. His biggest MGM success came with The Great Caruso
. He continued to make musicals for MGM into the 1960s, with Elvis Presley
or Connie Francis
.
His career as a film producer spanned 40 years and earned him two Oscar
nominations and three Golden Globe Award
nominations. He retired in 1968, having produced more than ninety feature-length films as well as three Academy Award
shows. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Joe Pasternak has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1541 N. Vine Street.
He was also an enthusiastic amateur chef
, and he wrote a book Cooking with Love and Paprika (published in 1966).
Pasternak is the father of Michael Joseph Pasternak, the 1960s radio disk jockey known as Emperor Rosko
; Jeff Pasternak, a playwright
and songwriter
; and Peter Pasternak, a music industry professional.
Joe Pasternak died in Beverly Hills, California
from complications arising from Parkinson's disease
only a few days shy of his 90th birthday. He is interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
in Culver City, California
.
He is related to the Russian author Boris Pasternak
.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film producer in Hollywood.
Born to a Jewish family in Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(now Şimleu Silvaniei
Simleu Silvaniei
Şimleu Silvaniei is a town in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 16,066 people .Three villages are administered by the town: Bic , Cehei and Pusta .-History:...
, Sălaj County
Salaj County
Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of ....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
), Pasternak was a successful film 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...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
by the time he was 28 years old.
Pasternak worked for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
in Europe, where he made German-language musicals for the international market. He hit upon a successful formula, building light musical comedies around an adolescent soprano (Franciska Gaal
Franciska Gaal
Franciska Gaal was a Hungarian cabaret artist who had a brief career in films.Born Fanny Zilveritch in Budapest, she was groomed by Joe Pasternak as a singer to become a very popular stage and cabaret performer in Central Europe in the 1920s and 1930s...
). Following the establishment of the Nazi regime
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, Pasternak emigrated to Universal's Hollywood studio in 1936. He adapted his usual format for English-speaking audiences, casting 14-year-old Canadian singer Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
in Three Smart Girls
Three Smart Girls
Three Smart Girls is a 1936 musical comedy film. The Craig sisters, played by Barbara Read, Nan Grey and Deanna Durbin in her first feature film role, travel to New York City to prevent their father from remarrying....
. The film became a huge hit and saved Universal from bankruptcy. Pasternak produced a string of Durbin musicals, and soon discovered another talented soprano, Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...
. who began her own successful series in 1939. Pasternak proved to be a real asset for the studio, generating a number of popular films through 1941, including Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again is a western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., and Una Merkel. The original Max Brand novel was translated into an "oater" with the...
and Seven Sinners.
In 1941 Pasternak moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, where he continued to produce operetta films, featuring the rich singing voices of Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...
, Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
, and Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
. His biggest MGM success came with The Great Caruso
The Great Caruso
The Great Caruso is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green and the cinematography by...
. He continued to make musicals for MGM into the 1960s, with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
or Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
.
His career as a film producer spanned 40 years and earned him two Oscar
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...
nominations and three Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nominations. He retired in 1968, having produced more than ninety feature-length films as well as three Academy Award
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...
shows. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Joe Pasternak has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1541 N. Vine Street.
He was also an enthusiastic amateur chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, and he wrote a book Cooking with Love and Paprika (published in 1966).
Pasternak is the father of Michael Joseph Pasternak, the 1960s radio disk jockey known as Emperor Rosko
Emperor Rosko
Mike Pasternak, better known by his stage name of Emperor Rosko is a well known pop radio presenter.Born Michael Joseph Pasternak, he is the son of Hollywood film producer Joe Pasternak. He was influenced in his career choice by KYA Radio Los Angeles DJs Lord Tim Hudson and Wolfman Jack...
; Jeff Pasternak, a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
; and Peter Pasternak, a music industry professional.
Joe Pasternak died in Beverly Hills, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from complications arising from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
only a few days shy of his 90th birthday. He is interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California, USA. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried here.-Notable interments:*Irving Aaronson, composer...
in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
.
He is related to the Russian author Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
.
Partial filmography
- Three Smart GirlsThree Smart GirlsThree Smart Girls is a 1936 musical comedy film. The Craig sisters, played by Barbara Read, Nan Grey and Deanna Durbin in her first feature film role, travel to New York City to prevent their father from remarrying....
(1936) - One Hundred Men and a GirlOne Hundred Men and a GirlOne Hundred Men and a Girl is a 1937 musical comedy film, written by Charles Kenyon, Bruce Manning and James Mulhauser from a story by Hanns Kräly and directed by Henry Koster...
(1937) - Destry Rides AgainDestry Rides AgainDestry Rides Again is a western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., and Una Merkel. The original Max Brand novel was translated into an "oater" with the...
(1939) - The Under-PupThe Under-PupThe Under-Pup is the 1939 feature film that introduced soprano singing star Gloria Jean to the screen. The story, adapted by Grover Jones from a magazine story by Australian author I. A. R. Wylie, casts Gloria as a streetwise girl who is sent to a summer camp for wealthy girls...
(1939) - Anchors AweighAnchors Aweigh (film)Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM...
(1945) - Thrill of a RomanceThrill of a RomanceThrill of a Romance was an American romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by opera singer Lauritz Melchior...
(1945) - Three Daring DaughtersThree Daring DaughtersThree Daring Daughters is a 1948 musical film made by MGM, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox. The screenplay was written by Albert Mannheimer, Frederick Kohner, Sonya Levien and John Meehan.-Plot:...
(1948) - The Toast of New OrleansThe Toast of New OrleansThe Toast of New Orleans is a 1950 musical film directed by Norman Taurog and choreographed by Eugene Loring. It starred Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, David Niven, J. Carroll Naish, James Mitchell and a teenaged Rita Moreno...
(1950) - Summer StockSummer StockFor the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
(1950) - The Great CarusoThe Great CarusoThe Great Caruso is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green and the cinematography by...
(1951) - The Merry WidowThe Merry Widow (1952 film)The Merry Widow is a 1952 film adaptation of the operetta of the same name by Franz Lehár. It starred Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas.The film received two Academy Award nominations: for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Color and Best Costume Design, Color...
(1952) - The Student PrinceThe Student Prince (film)The Student Prince is a 1954 CinemaScope color film musical featuring, as the credits read, "the singing voice of Mario Lanza". Lanza had become embroiled in a bitter dispute with MGM during production and the studio dismissed him. Under the terms of the settlement with Lanza, MGM retained the...
(1954) - AthenaAthena (film)Athena is a romantic musical comedy, starring Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Louis Calhern, and Norma Varden, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer....
(1954) - Hit the DeckHit the Deck (1955 film)Hit the Deck is a 1955 musical film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Jane Powell. Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Raymond, Ann Miller, Russ Tamblyn,and Vic Damone. It was based on the musical of the same name.-Cast:...
(1955) - The Opposite SexThe Opposite SexThe Opposite Sex is a 1956 musical film.It is a remake of the 1939 classic comedy The Women. Both films are based on Claire Boothe Luce's original play...
(1956) - Where the Boys AreWhere the Boys AreThe kind of cool modern jazz popularized by such acts as Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Chico Hamilton, then in the vanguard of the college music market, features in a number of scenes with Basil...
(1960) - Please Don't Eat the DaisiesPlease Don't Eat The DaisiesPlease Don't Eat the Daisies is a best-selling collection of humorous essays by American humorist and playwright Jean Kerr about suburban living and raising four boys. The essays do not have a plot or through-storyline, but the book sold so well it was later adapted into a film starring Doris Day...
(1960) - The Courtship of Eddie's FatherThe Courtship of Eddie's FatherThe Courtship of Eddie's Father is an American television sitcom based on the 1963 movie of the same name, which was based on the book written by Mark Toby...
(1963) - Girl HappyGirl HappyGirl Happy is a 1965 American musical romantic comedy in the beach party film and spring break style, starring Elvis Presley.This was the last mega-successful Elvis Presley film at the box office, finishing at #25 on the Variety year-end top-grossing films of 1965 chart and making $3 million,...
(1965) - SpinoutSpinoutSpinout is a 1966 musical film and comedy starring Elvis Presley as the lead singer of a band and part-time race car driver. The movie was #57 on the year end list of the top-grossing films of 1966.-Plot:...
(1966) - Made in ParisMade in ParisMade in Paris is a 1966 American romantic comedy film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Louis Jourdan, Ann-Margaret, and Richard Crenna.This was the last screen credit for veteran MGM musical director Georgie Stoll before retirement....
(1966) - The Sweet RideThe Sweet RideThe Sweet Ride is an American counter-culture drama with a few surfer/biker exploitation film elements. It stars Anthony Franciosa, Michael Sarrazin and Jacqueline Bisset in an early starring role. The film also features Bob Denver in the role of Choo-Choo, a Beatnik piano-playing draft dodger...
(1968)