Lawrence Turman, Oscar nominated producer, died Saturday at 96 years old. He passed at the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital.
His career as producer ranged from doing but not limited to, The Graduate (1967), The Great White Hope (1970), and American History X (1998). Turman’s career lasted six decades. He was married to Suzanne Trieb in 1959 and interior designer and aspiring actress and had three sons, four grandchildren, and two nieces. He had two other marriages that stayed meaningful to him.
John Turman, Turman’s son, confirmed his fathers death to 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.” MPTF and USC are planning separate memorial services for Turman at a later date. The family has requested that instead of sending flowers, for people to donate to the Motion Picture and Televison Fund and the USC School of Cinematic Arts’.
His career in film began as an agent at Kurt Frings Agency in the 1950s for Joan Fontaine and Alan Pakula. In 1961 he started his producing career on The Young Doctors (1961). He also produced Stolen Hours (1963), I Could Go on Singing, and The Best Man. He then would spend two years trying to sell The Graduate until he got Mike Nichols as the director. Turman later would receive an Oscar nomination for The Graduate, which acquired seven nominations.
Turman with his business partner, David Foster, began the Turman Foster Company that lasted 20 years and produced 17 films. Turman had also served as a director on Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) and Second Thoughts (1983). Over Turman’s career he had produced 40 plus movies.
Leave a Comment