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Photo of Pandro S. Berman

Pandro S. Berman

Producer, Editor, Additional Credits
Born March 28, 1905Died July 13, 1996 (91 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905 – July 13, 1996), also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer.

Berman was an assistant director during the 1920s under Mal St. Clair and Ralph Ince. In 1930, Berman was hired as a film editor at RKO Radio Pictures, then became an assistant producer. When RKO supervising producer William LeBaron walked out during production of the ill-fated The Gay Diplomat (1931), Berman took over LeBaron's responsibilities, remaining in the post until 1939.

After David O. Selznick became chief of production at RKO in October 1931, Berman managed to survive Selznick's general firing of most of the staff. Selznick named Berman producer for the adaptation of Fannie Hurst's short story Night Bell, a tale of a Jewish doctor's rise out of the Lower East Side ghetto to the height of becoming a Park Avenue physician, which Selznick personally retitled Symphony of Six Million. He ordered Berman to have references to ethnic life in the Jewish ghetto restored. The movie was a box-office and critical success. Both Selznick and Berman were proud of the picture, with Berman later saying it was the "first good movie" he had produced.

The Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals were in production during the Berman regime, Katharine Hepburn rose to prominence, and such RKO classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Gunga Din (both 1939) were completed.

Upset when an RKO power play diminished his authority, Berman left for MGM in 1940, where he oversaw such productions as Ziegfeld Girl (1941), National Velvet (1944), The Bribe (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Butterfield 8 (1960).

He survived several executive shake-ups at MGM and remained there until 1963, then went into independent production, closing out his career with the unsuccessful Move (1970).

Berman was the winner of the 1976 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Six of his films were nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture: The Gay Divorcee (1934), Alice Adams and Top Hat (both 1935), Stage Door (1937), Father of the Bride (1950), and Ivanhoe (1952).

Berman died of congestive heart failure on July 13, 1996 in his Beverly Hills home, aged 91. He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Of Human Bondage
  • Father's Little Dividend

Known For

  • Top Hat
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray
  • Swing Time
  • Father of the Bride
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • Ivanhoe
  • Jailhouse Rock
  • Blackboard Jungle
  • Stage Door
  • The Gay Divorcee
  • Sweet Bird of Youth
  • Of Human Bondage
  • Shall We Dance
  • BUtterfield 8
  • The Three Musketeers
  • The Long, Long Trailer
  • Room Service
  • The Prize
  • Follow the Fleet
  • Alice Adams
  • Sylvia Scarlett
  • Father's Little Dividend
  • Carefree
  • National Velvet

Filmography

1970
1969
1965
1964
1963
1962
1960
1960
Key Witness · as Executive Producer
1960
1958
1958
1957
1957
1956
1956
1955
1955
1954
1953
1953
1953
1952
1952
1951
1951
1951
1950
1949
1949
1949
1948
1947
1947
1947
1946
1945
1944
1944
1944
1944
1944
1943
1942
1942
1941
1941
1941
1939
1938
1938
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1935
1934
1934
1934
1934
Wednesday's Child · as Executive Producer
1934
1934
1934
1934
1934
Down to Their Last Yacht · as Executive Producer
1934
1934
Hat, Coat, and Glove · as Executive Producer
1934
Their Big Moment · as Executive Producer
1934
His Greatest Gamble · as Executive Producer
1934
Bachelor Bait · as Executive Producer
1934
1934
We're Rich Again · as Executive Producer
1934
Let's Try Again · as Executive Producer
1934
Cockeyed Cavaliers · as Executive Producer
1934
1934
Murder on the Blackboard · as Executive Producer
1934
Stingaree · as Executive Producer
1934
Where Sinners Meet · as Executive Producer
1934
Strictly Dynamite · as Executive Producer
1934
1934
1934
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
Sweepings · as Associate Producer
1933
Christopher Strong · as Associate Producer
1933
1932
The Half-Naked Truth · as Associate Producer
1932
Men of America · as Associate Producer
1932
The Age of Consent · as Associate Producer
1932
What Price Hollywood? · as Associate Producer
1932
Symphony of Six Million · as Associate Producer
1931
Men of Chance · as Associate Producer

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