Lawrence Turman dead: Legendary Hollywood movie producer behind classics The Graduate & American History X dies at 96
LEGENDARY Hollywood producer Lawrence Turman has died at the age of 96.
The Oscar-nominated star died on Saturday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California hospital.
Turman was the mastermind behind the romantic-comedy movie The Graduate, released in 1967.
The movie was nominated for Best Picture at The Oscars.
In 2017, Turman told Little White Lies: “I was famous after The Graduate for about 20 minutes.
“It’s nice to get a better table at the restaurant, but basically, that doesn’t motivate me.”
But, he said that he had never really thought about being famous.
He said: “I was inundated with telephone calls and letters and scripts after the film’s success.
“That’s Hollywood. Fame is ephemeral and gives us life.”
Turman also produced films such as the 1998 classic American History X, The River Wild, and Mass Appeal.
The producer and director created more than 30 movies during his career.
In his book So You Want to Be a Producer, he wrote: “I initiate every single film project upon which I work; most of them would not have seen the light of day had I not decided to make them.
“I’m the starter and also the finisher.”
Turman described a producer as a “creative person,” but said they do not tend to receive much respect.
He said: “Go out in the street and stop a dozen strangers and ask what a writer does, what a director does, what an actor does, and you’ll get a correct answer.
“If you ask what a producer does, you’ll get a blank look.”