
Pandro S. Berman
Personal Info
Known for
Production
Gender
Male
Birthday
1905-03-28
Day of Death
1996-07-13 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Pandro S. Berman
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(2014)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
as Self - Producer (archive footage)
(2006)
Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm
as Self (archive footage)
(2004)
On Location with Gunga Din
as Self
(1985)
(1965)
A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
as Self
Crew
(1970)
Move
Producer
(1969)
Justine
Producer
(1965)
A Patch of Blue
Producer
(1964)
Honeymoon Hotel
Producer
(1963)
The Prize
Producer
(1962)
Sweet Bird of Youth
Producer
(1960)
BUtterfield 8
Producer
(1960)
All the Fine Young Cannibals
Producer
(1958)
The Reluctant Debutante
Producer
(1958)
The Brothers Karamazov
Producer
(1957)
Jailhouse Rock
Producer
(1957)
Something of Value
Producer
(1956)
Bhowani Junction
Producer
(1956)
Tea and Sympathy
Producer
(1955)
Blackboard Jungle
Producer
(1955)
Quentin Durward
Producer
(1954)
The Long, Long Trailer
Producer
(1953)
Knights of the Round Table
Producer
(1953)
Battle Circus
Producer
(1953)
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Producer
(1952)
Ivanhoe
Producer
(1952)
The Prisoner of Zenda
Producer
(1951)
Father's Little Dividend
Producer
(1951)
Soldiers Three
Producer
(1951)
The Light Touch
Producer
(1950)
Father of the Bride
Producer
(1949)
Madame Bovary
Producer
(1949)
The Bribe
Producer
(1949)
The Doctor and the Girl
Producer
(1948)
The Three Musketeers
Producer
(1947)
Living in a Big Way
Producer
(1947)
The Sea of Grass
Producer
(1946)
Undercurrent
Producer
(1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Producer
(1945)
National Velvet
Producer
(1944)
Dragon Seed
Producer
(1944)
The Seventh Cross
Producer
(1943)
Slightly Dangerous
Producer
(1942)
Rio Rita
Producer
(1942)
Somewhere I'll Find You
Producer
(1941)
Love Crazy
Producer
(1941)
Ziegfeld Girl
Producer
(1939)
Fifth Avenue Girl
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Producer
(1939)
In Name Only
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1939)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1939)
Bachelor Mother
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1939)
Allegheny Uprising
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1939)
Gunga Din
Production Manager
(1938)
Room Service
Producer
(1938)
Having Wonderful Time
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1938)
Carefree
Producer
(1938)
The Mad Miss Manton
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1938)
Vivacious Lady
Executive In Charge Of Production
(1937)
Stage Door
Producer
(1937)
Shall We Dance
Producer
(1937)
A Damsel in Distress
Producer
(1937)
Quality Street
Producer
(1937)
The Soldier and the Lady
Producer
(1936)
Swing Time
Producer
(1936)
The Big Game
Producer
(1936)
Winterset
Producer
(1936)
Mary of Scotland
Producer
(1936)
That Girl from Paris
Producer
(1936)
Follow the Fleet
Producer
(1936)
Muss 'em Up
Producer
(1935)
Top Hat
Producer
(1935)
In Person
Producer
(1935)
Sylvia Scarlett
Producer
(1935)
Romance in Manhattan
Producer
(1935)
Alice Adams
Producer
(1935)
Roberta
Producer
(1935)
I Dream Too Much
Producer
(1935)
Break of Hearts
Producer
(1934)
Of Human Bondage
Producer
(1934)
The Richest Girl in the World
Producer
(1934)
The Age of Innocence
Producer
(1934)
The Fountain
Producer
(1934)
Down to Their Last Yacht
Executive Producer
(1934)
Where Sinners Meet
Executive Producer
(1934)
The Gay Divorcee
Producer
(1934)
Stingaree
Executive Producer
(1934)
Murder on the Blackboard
Executive Producer
(1934)
By Your Leave
Producer
(1934)
Wednesday's Child
Executive Producer
(1934)
Cockeyed Cavaliers
Executive Producer
(1934)
This Man Is Mine
Producer
(1934)
Man of Two Worlds
Producer
(1934)
Spitfire
Producer
(1934)
Strictly Dynamite
Executive Producer
(1934)
Their Big Moment
Executive Producer
(1934)
We're Rich Again
Executive Producer
(1934)
His Greatest Gamble
Executive Producer
(1934)
Hat, Coat and Glove
Executive Producer
(1934)
Let's Try Again
Executive Producer
(1934)
The Life of Vergie Winters
Producer
(1934)
Bachelor Bait
Executive Producer
(1934)
Gridiron Flash
Producer
(1934)
The Little Minister
Producer
(1933)
Morning Glory
Producer
(1933)
Christopher Strong
Associate Producer
(1933)
The Monkey's Paw
Producer
(1933)
Ann Vickers
Producer
(1933)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Producer
(1933)
Sweepings
Associate Producer
(1933)
The Silver Cord
Producer
(1933)
Bed of Roses
Producer
(1932)
The Age of Consent
Associate Producer
(1932)
What Price Hollywood?
Associate Producer
(1932)
Symphony of Six Million
Associate Producer
(1932)
The Half-Naked Truth
Associate Producer
(1928)
Taxi 13
Editor
(1924)
Find Your Man
Assistant Director
(1924)
Money to Burns
Assistant Director
(1923)
Fighting Blood
Assistant Director