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David . Brown New York, NY QCWA # 03762 |
Birth: Jul 28, 1916
New York, New York
Death: Feb 1, 2010
Manhattan, New York
Motion Picture Producer. He was a journalist for such magazines as "The Saturday Evening Post", "Harper's" and "Liberty" before beginning his Hollywood career in 1951.
20th Century-Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck hired him to head the studio's story department and later promoted him to executive vice president of creative operations, during which time he formed a lifelong friendship with Zanuck's son, Fox executive Richard D. Zanuck.
The elder Zanuck fired both in 1971 because he feared they were plotting a hostile takeover.
Following a brief stint at Warner Bros., Brown and Richard Zanuck started their own production company in 1972. One of their earliest films, "The Sting" (1973), won the Academy Award for Best Picture, but they are probably best remembered for hiring a young Steven Spielberg to direct his first theatrical features, "The Sugarland Express" (1974) and the blockbuster "Jaws" (1975).
Brown's other credits, alone or in collaboration, include "MacArthur" (1977), "The Verdict" (1982), "Cocoon" (1985), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), "A Few Good Men" (1992), "Deep Impact" (1998), and "Chocolat" (2000).
As a producer Brown received four Oscar nominations, and in 1991 he and Zanuck shared the Irving G. Thalberg Award, presented at the Academy Awards for a producing career of consistent high quality.
He was also successful as a theatre producer, with such Broadway shows as "The Sweet Smell of Success", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", and "The Cemetery Club".
Brown was married to famed "Cosmopolitan" editor Helen Gurley Brown for 50 years. He died of kidney failure at age 93.
