Jerry Bresler

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jerry Bresler (Jerome S. Bresler: April 13, 1908 in Denver, Colorado – August 23, 1977 in Los Angeles) was an American film producer. He won an Oscar in 1944 as co-producer for Heavenly Music (Best Short Subject, Two-reel) and in 1945 for Stairway to Light (Best Short Subject, one-reel).

He began his film career as a production supervisor. In the late 1930s, he joined MGM as a unit manager and worked on the Dr. Kildare series and other films. After his success with short films (the two Academy Awards, and three other nominations), he began to work on features, producing such films as Richard Fleischer's movie The Vikings in 1958, Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee (1965) and the James Bond spoof Casino Royale in 1967, and his final film, Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You.

It was the post-production interference at Columbia Pictures on Major Dundee which for a time gave Bresler a reputation as a studio hatchet-man. The more complicated history of the production has become known over the years, and the editing of the film is seen as one part of that history.

In 1965, he was a member of the jury at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival.