‘The Graduate’ producer Lawrence Turman has died aged 96. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker passed away on Saturday (01.07.23) at the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital.
His son, John Turman, told Deadline. “Our father Lawrence Turman passed away late yesterday. It’s sad but he had a long and storied life and it’s the passing of an era.”
Memorial services hosted by the MPTF and the University of South Carolina (USC) will take place for Lawrence Turman.
Turman started out in Hollywood as an agent, before launching his producing career with 1961’s ‘The Young Doctors’.
Turman was nominated for an Academy Award for the 1967 rom-com classic ‘The Graduate’, which starred Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross, and was the highest-grossing flick of the year in North America.
He spent $1,000 on the rights to Charles Webb’s 1963 novel ‘The Graduate’ but it took him years to sell the story.
The producer eventually found a director in Mike Nichols.
His other producer credits include 1968’s ‘Pretty Poison’, 1970’s ‘The Great White Hope’ and 1998’s ‘American History X’.
Turman also directed two movies in 1971’s ‘The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker’ and 1983’s ‘ Second Thoughts’.
He went into partnership with David Foster on The Turman/Foster Company in 1972, which run under the Warner Bros. banner, and they developed their flop television pilots, including ‘Mass Appeal’.
Turman was director of The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.
He published the tome ‘So You Want to be a Producer’ in 2005.
In 2011, the filmmaker executive produced a prequel to sci-fi horror ‘The Thing’ directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton.
Dean Elizabeth M. Daley, Dean of School of Cinematic Arts at USC paid a touching tribute in a statement which read: “Larry led a remarkable life for 96 years and we were fortunate to share part of it with him.
“Larry was a movie industry legend. His fifty-year career gave us classics like ‘The Graduate’, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, ‘The Great White Hope’, ‘The Thing’, and ‘American History X’, and made him the expert on the critical role of Producers in film…
“Without a doubt, Larry was a transformative member of our industry, and our School. He was a wise mentor and guide.
“On a personal note, Larry was my dear friend and colleague for almost 40 years, and I will miss him deeply as I know many of you will. Having him in our lives was a blessing beyond measure. We will announce plans for a celebration of Larry’s life as soon as we have them.”
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