Laura Ziskin

Early life and education

Ziskin was born and raised in a Russian-Jewish family in the San Fernando Valley, California, the daughter of Jay Ziskin and Elaine Edelman. Her father was a psychologist and lawyer who died of prostate cancer, aged 77, on June 14, 1997.

After graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1973, Ziskin began by writing material for game shows and then became the personal assistant of Jon Peters. Ziskin quickly became a development executive, moving into feature films with Jon Peters' production company, where she worked on the remake of A Star Is Born (1976), starring Barbra Streisand. She was the associate producer of The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978).

Career

Fogwood Films and as an independent producer

Ziskin formed Fogwood Films with partner Sally Field in 1984, and produced Murphy's Romance (1985). As an independent producer, Ziskin produced the thriller No Way Out (1987) for Orion Pictures. Ziskin and partner Ian Sander produced two films featuring Dennis Quaid, the 1988 remake of D.O.A., and Taylor Hackford's Everybody's All-American (also 1988).

Touchstone Pictures

Ziskin's largest success came with the release of the comedy Pretty Woman (1990), starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, on which Ziskin served as executive producer for Touchstone Pictures. Ziskin's next project, What About Bob? (1991), proved stressful. She and star Bill Murray had spirited disagreements during production, which involved Murray pushing her into a lake and breaking her sunglasses.

Neither that film nor The Doctor (also 1991) were anywhere near as strong at the box-office as Pretty Woman. A switch to Columbia resulted in Stephen Frears' Hero (1992), a loose remake of Meet John Doe (1941), for which Ziskin both produced and supplied the story. Ziskin directed her first short film Oh, What a Day! 1914, which was released in 1994, and produced the Nicole Kidman tour-de-force To Die For (1995), under the banner of Laura Ziskin Productions.

Fox 2000

Ziskin was appointed president of Fox 2000 in 1994, a newly created division of 20th Century Fox.

Among the films released were Edward Zwick's Gulf War drama Courage Under Fire (1996), the romantic comedy One Fine Day (1996), Pat O'Connor's Inventing the Abbotts (1997), and the big-budget disaster film Volcano (1997). Ziskin and Tom Rothman helped develop the script for The English Patient (1996) before studio head Bill Mechanic returned the rights to director Anthony Minghella, who then got it produced and distributed through Miramax Films.

Ziskin executive produced As Good as It Gets (1997). The film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Its stars, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, received the leading role Oscars in the acting categories.

Columbia Pictures

After nearly five years in the same job, Ziskin resigned from Fox 2000 in November 1999 and within a month had a production deal at Columbia Pictures.

After serving as the first solo female producer of an Academy Awards telecast in 2002, Ziskin returned to the big screen with the feature version of Spider-Man (2002). The film was released in early May to widespread acclaim from critics and became the highest-grossing film of its year. The success of the film led to two sequels, Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

In 2002, Ziskin was awarded the Crystal Award by Women in Film for her efforts at expanding the role of women in the entertainment industry.

Activism

In February 2004, Ziskin was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, a disease doctors had repeatedly missed previously because of the diffuse type of cancer she had.

On May 28, 2008, Ziskin, along with Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the Noreen Fraser Foundation, and Ellen Ziffren, created the charitable organization Stand Up to Cancer.

Personal life

When she was about 27, Ziskin married writer Julian Barry, relocating to Connecticut to help him raise his three children from a previous marriage. The couple later had a daughter, Julia Barry. Ziskin was married to writer Alvin Sargent from 2010 until her death in 2011 from complications of breast cancer.

Death

Ziskin died of breast cancer at her home in Santa Monica, California, on June 12, 2011, aged 61. Her final films were the franchise reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Butler (2013). She died a few weeks after principal filming ended on The Amazing Spider-Man but three weeks before filming began on The Butler.

In 2012, the Athena Film Festival created an award to be given in her honor: The Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award is given annually to a woman in the film industry whose leadership demonstrates vision and courage and sets a standard for other women to emulate.

Filmography as producer and executive producer

She was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;As writer

;Miscellaneous crew

;Thanks

Television

;As writer

;Miscellaneous crew

References

References

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2. Aljean Harmetz. (June 13, 2011). "Laura Ziskin, Producer of 'Spider-Man' and 'Pretty Woman,' Dies at 61". [[The New York Times]].
3. Hyman, Paula; Moore, Deborah Dash (1997). ''Volume 1 of Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia,'' p. 448. [[American Jewish Historical Society]]/[[Taylor & Francis]], {{ISBN. 978-0-415-91934-0
4. [http://jewishjournal.com/culture/lifestyle/education/93733/ Jewish Journal: "Goodbye to Laura Ziskin: ‘A mother in a man’s world’" BY DANIELLE BERRIN] June 29, 2011
5. Zeitchik, Steven. (June 14, 2011). "Laura Ziskin dies at 61; 'Spider-Man' producer". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. Staff report (June 21, 1997). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-21-mn-5586-story.html "Jay H. Ziskin; Psychologist and Lawyer"]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. June 21, 1997.
7. Miller, Gabriel (2000). The films of Martin Ritt: fanfare for the common man. Univ. Press of Mississippi, {{ISBN. 978-1-57806-277-5
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9. James, Caryn (March 18, 1988). [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE6D91131F93BA25750C0A96E948260 Film; 'D.O.A.,' Racing Death.] ''[[The New York Times]]''
10. Maslin, Janet (November 4, 1988). [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE6D71539F937A35752C1A96E948260 Film; The Glory Fades in 'Everybody's All-American.'] ''[[The New York Times]]''
11. Benson, Sheila (March 23, 1990). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120129013126/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60023261.html?dids=60023261:60023261&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT 'Pretty Woman': Roberts' Legs, a Cold Heart.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
12. Brownfield, Paul (February 29, 2004). [https://archive.today/20130131145205/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/562750201.html?dids=562750201:562750201&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT THE ICONOCLAST; What about Bill?; Murray doesn't play the game – which might be how he keeps his craft fresh.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
13. Maslin, Janet (July 24, 1991). [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE1DC1439F937A15754C0A967958260 Film; William Hurt as Doctor Whose Spirit Heals When He Falls Ill.] ''[[New York Times]]''
14. Fox, David J. (September 4, 1991). [The Long, Not-So-Hot Summer Industry Hopes Year-End Films Revive Sagging Box Office.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
15. Turan, Kenneth (October 2, 1992). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120129013115/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61697855.html?dids=61697855:61697855&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT A Reluctant 'Hero.'] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
16. Schick, Elizabeth A. (1997). ''Current Biography Yearbook, 1997.'' HW Wilson Co, {{ISBN. 978-0-8242-0938-4
17. Quigley, Eileen S. (2006). ''International Television & Video Almanac.'' Quigley Pub. Co., {{ISBN. 978-0-900610-78-3
18. Harmetz, Aljean. (2011-06-13). "Laura Ziskin, Producer of 'Spider-Man' and 'Pretty Woman,' Dies at 61". The New York Times.
19. Waxman, Sharon (2005). ''Rebels on the backlot: six maverick directors and how they conquered the Hollywood studio system,'' p. 257. [[HarperCollins]], {{ISBN. 978-0-06-054017-3
20. (October 5, 2014). "The 70th Academy Awards {{!}} 1998 - Winners & Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
21. McDonald, Kathy A. (September 20, 2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105223144/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-92408364.html Laura Ziskin: self-starting 'Spider-Man' producer stays real, seeks perfection.] ''[[Variety (magazine). Variety]]''
22. Waxman, Sharon (January 7, 2007). [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/movies/awardsseason/07waxm.html She's Producing as Fast as She Can.] ''[[The New York Times]]''
23. Schick, Elizabeth A. (1997). ''Current Biography Yearbook.'' HW Wilson Co., {{ISBN. 978-0-8242-0938-4
24. Littleton, Cynthia (June 12, 2011). [https://variety.com/2011/film/news/producer-laura-ziskin-dies-at-61-1118038459/ "Producer Laura Ziskin dies at 61"]. ''[[Variety (magazine). Variety]]''.
25. Finke, Nikki. (August 18, 2013). "Oprah's PR Blitz Helps 'The Butler' Open #1 With $25M: Soft Box Office As 'Kick Ass 2' Falls, 'Jobs' Biopic Dies, 'Paranoia' Bombs".
26. "The 2013 Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award | Athena Film Festival".