Frank Pierson, Former Movie Academy President, Writer and Director, Dies at
87
11:02 AM PDT 7/23/2012 by Duane Byrge
Frank Pierson, who won an
Academy Award for best original screenplay for Dog Day Afternoon, and who was
nominated for two Academy Awards for adapted screenplay for Cat Ballou and Cool
Hand Luke, died Monday in Los Angeles of natural causes following a short
illness. More recently, Pierson served as president of the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts and Science from 2001-05. He was 87.
Pierson was currently
working as writer and consulting producer on Mad Men and had served the same
duties on several episodes of The Good Wife.
"Young rock 'n rollers
always look to the old bluesmen as models of how to keep their art strong and
rebellious into older years. For screenwriters, Frank has been our old blues
master for a long time. From great, great movies like Cat Ballou, Cool Hand Luke
and Dog Day Afternoon, to his joining the writing staffs of The Good Wife and
Mad Men well past his 80th birthday, he's always shown us -- better than anyone
else -- how to do it with class, grace, humor, strength, brilliance, generosity
and a joyful tenacity," said Academy governor of the writers branch Phil
Robinson in a statement.
"He was both a great and a good man, I miss him
already and feel very, very lucky to have known him," he said.
Pierson
won Emmy awards for TV directing: Truman (1995) and Conspiracy (2001). He also
garnered a CableACE award for Citizen Cohen (1992), a biopic on the notorious
Red baiter Roy Cohn.
A man of long-term service to the industry, Pierson
received the Writers Guild of America’s top three honors – Laurel Award for
Lifetime Achievement, Valentine Davies Award and Edmund H. North Award. He
served as president of the WGA from 1981-83 and 1993-95. Pierson also taught at
the Sundance Institute for the summer labs, as well as served as the artistic
director of the American Film Institute.
Pierson himself had a pedigreed
and broad cultural background. He was born on May 12, 1925 in Chappaqua, New
York and was educated at Harvard University. He subsequently served as a
correspondent for Time magazine. Following that journalistic stint, he became a
story editor for various TV shows. Following a robust TV writing career, he
launched into directing. While always continuing to write, he made his film
directing debut with The Looking Glass War in 1969. He also directed the 1976
version of A Star Is Born, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson and
directed King of the Gypsies in 1978.
His additional screenwriting
credits, include a wide range of movies, including: The Anderson Tapes, Presumed
Innocent, In Country, The Looking Glass War, The Happening and King of the
Gypsies.
In more recent years, Pierson focused his energies on TV,
distinguishing himself with such projects as Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee
(1994). His TV career began during the halcyon days of the ‘50s. He had written
for TV for more than 40 years, beginning in the ‘50s with such renown series as
Have Gun Will Travel, Route 66 and Naked City.
In addition, he has served
the WGA in a number of capacities, either chairing or serving as a member of
more than 25 WGA committees, including: Negotiating, Professional Status of
Writers, Screen Credits, Laurel Award and Awards Show, among
others.
Pierson is a past member of the board of the Los Angeles Theater
Center, as well as a lecturer at the USC School of Cinema and Television. More
recently, he served on the boards of a variety of organizations, including:
Artists Rights Foundation and Humanitas Foundation.
STORY: Andy Horn
Fills New CFO Role at Movie Academy
In an interview for the WGA conducted
by Alan Waldman in 2003, Pierson lamented the current downslide in script
quality: “I’m really disturbed about two things today. One is that among the big
audience pictures, which are being financed by the major studios, the range of
subject mater is so narrow and is aimed at a particularly small and not
especially demanding audience ….The other thing, which I see with the people
that I am teaching, is a matching impoverishment of the language of films …. For
most of my students now, film history began with Steven Spielberg. Ironically,
Steven himself was brought up studying the film of people who had a very board
literary and liberal arts background.”
For his adaptation of Cat Ballou,
Pierson was also honored by the Berlin International Film Festival with an
honorable mention notice. In 1987, he was tributed by the Virginia Film Festival
with a special screening of Cool Hand Luke.
Pierson is survived by his
wife Helene, his children Michael and Eve and five grandchildren.
A
private funeral for the family will be held this week. A public memorial will be
planned in the near future. The family requests that contributions be made to
Stand Up 2 Cancer.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/frank-pierson-death-obituary-353052#xdm_e=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com&xdm_c=default6105&xdm_p=1&
Kitty Wells, famed female country singer, has died in Nashville at the age of
92.
According to family members, Kitty, born Ellen Muriel Deason, died at
her home on Monday morning.
Wells was best known for her 1952 hit song
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", making her the first female country
singer to top the U.S country charts. Wells married her husband, Johnny Wright
at the age of 18 in 1937. Wright also a country music legend in his own right,
took his wife on the road with him. The couple spent over 60 years together in
the country music industry. Well's husband also gave her the nickname "Kitty
Wells" after a song called "Sweet Kitty Wells".
Wells leaves behind a
daughter and son, and was preceded in death by her first daughter and her
husband.
Funeral arraignments have not been announced.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/19036545/country-legend-dies-at-age-92
SERRAO FRANK ANTHONY
Beloved son, brother and friend, passed away on
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at age 60. The first son of John E. and Mary (Laurino)
Serrao, born on Valentine's Day, the same day as his father. Brother to Laura,
John "Porky", Joseph and Linda; and uncle to Cassie and Danielle Serrao and John
Michael Beakley of Texas. A Fox Chapel alumni and graduate of the University of
Pittsburgh. Frank especially enjoyed working on a number of film projects in the
area. He is most widely known as "The Gray Suit Zombie" from the original Dawn
of the Dead film while his photo clip appeared on the Times Square Billboard. An
actor on stage and film, educator in prisons and schools, and frustrated sports
fan, Frank had many unique experiences to add to his credits. He will be
faithfully remembered. A memorial gathering for family and friends will be held
Sunday, July 22 at 3 p.m. at his family home in O'Hara Twp. The family
respectfully suggests donations be made to the Cooper-Siegel Community Library,
403 Fox Chapel Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15238. Funeral arrangements were thoughtfully
handled by the WEDDELL-AJAK FUNERAL HOME, Aspinwall.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?n=FRANK-SERRAO&pid=158641888#fbLoggedOut
Friday, July 27, 2012
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