David L. Wolper


David Lloyd Wolper was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985 for his work producing the opening and closing ceremonies of the XXIIIrd Olympiad, Los Angeles 1984 as well as helping to bring the games to L.A. His 1971 film about the study of insects, The Hellstrom Chronicle, won an Academy Award.

Life and career

Wolper was born in New York City, into an eastern European Jewish family, the son of Anna and Irving S. Wolper. He briefly attended Drake University in Des Moines Iowa before transferring to the University of Southern California.
Wolper directed the 1959 documentary The Race for Space, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and others including Biography, The Making of the President 1960 and Four Days in November. Wolper then sold his company to Metromedia for $3.6 million in 1964. In October 1968, he paid $750,000 to leave Metromedia and took six films projects with him. The pre-1968 library is owned by Cube Entertainment, while the post-1970 library is owned by Warner Bros.
He won an Academy Award for the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle, about the study of insects, which he executive produced. He also produced numerous documentaries and documentary series including The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich , Appointment With Destiny, Visions of Eight, This Is Elvis, and others.
On March 13, 1974, one of his crews filming a National Geographic history of Australopithecus at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was killed when their Sierra Pacific Airlines Corvair 440 slammed into the White Mountains shortly after takeoff from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, killing all 35 on board, including 31 Wolper crew members. The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast in the television series Primal Man. The cause of the crash remains unsolved.
In 1984, he helped bring the Olympic Games to Los Angeles and produced the opening and closing ceremonies. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards the following year.
In 1988, Wolper was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. For his work on television, he had received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wolper died on August 10, 2010, of congestive heart disease and complications of Parkinson's disease at his Beverly Hills home.

Productions

His company was involved in the following productions. He was a distributor of the early shows, and became an executive producer with The Race for Space in 1958.
YearShow
1949Funny Bunnies
1953Superman
1954Baseball Hall of Fame
1954O.S.S.
1954Grand Ole Opry
1955Congressional Investigator
1958Men from Boys - The First Eight Weeks
1958The Race for Space
1959'
1960'
1961'
1961'
1962'
1962'
1962D-Day June 6, 1944
1962Biography
1962–1963Story of...
1963Hollywood and the Stars
1963Escape to Freedom
1963'
1963'
1963'
1963–1964Specials for United Artists
1964'
1964'
1964'
1964Men in Crisis
1964Four Days in November
1965'
1965'
1965Prelude to War
1965'
1965007: The Incredible World of James Bond
1965'
1965'
1965Race for the Moon
1965Miss Television U.S.A.
1965'
1965Revolution in Our Time
1965'
1965'
1965'
1965'
1965In Search of Man
1965'
1965Revolution in the 3 R's
1965'
1965In Search of Man
1965Silent Partners
1965–1966'
1965–1975National Geographic Society Specials
1966'
1966Wall Street Where the Money Is
1966'
1966Destination Safety
1966'
1966–1968'
1967'
1967'
1967Untamed World
1967'
1967Movin' with Nancy
1967–1968Do Blondes Have More Fun?
1967–1968'
1968Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
1968'
1968California
1968With Love, Sophia
1968'
1968'
1968'
1968On the Trail of Stanley and Livingstone
1968'
1968'
1968'
1969'
1969If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
1969'
1970'
1970I Love My Wife
1970–1972'
1971Say Goodbye
1971They've Killed President Lincoln
1971'
1971Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971–1973Appointment With Destiny
1972King, Queen, Knave
1972One Is a Lonely Number
1972'
1972Republican Party Films
1972Make Mine Red, White and Blue
1972Top of The Month
1972Of Thee I Sing
1972–1973The Explorers
1973'
1973Wattstax
1973Visions of Eight
1973–1974Primal Man Specials
1973–1975'
1974This Week In The NBA
1974NBA Game of the Week Featurettes
1974Get Christie Love!
1974Judgment Specials
1974'
1974Unwed Father
1974Men of the Dragon
1974'
1974Love from A to Z
1974Birds Do It, Bees Do It
1974'
1974Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
1974–1975Get Christie Love!
1974–1975Smithsonian Specials
1974–1975Sandburg's Lincoln
1974–1976Chico and the Man
1975Death Stalk
1975I Will Fight No More Forever
1975–1976Welcome Back, Kotter
1976Brenda Starr
1976'
1976'
1976'
1976Victory At Entebbe
1976Mysteries of the Great Pyramids
1977Roots
1978'
1978The Little Mermaid
1978'
1980'
1980Moviola
1981This Is Elvis
1981'
1981Small World
1981Murder Is Easy
1982'
1982Casablanca
1983'
1984XXIIIrd Olympiad, Los Angeles 1984
1984His Mistress
1985North and South
1986'
1986Liberty Weekend
1987'
1987'
1988What Price Victory
1988'
1988'
1989'
1989Murder in Mississippi
1990Warner Bros. Celebration of Tradition, June 2, 1990
1990Dillinger
1990When You Remember Me
1991Best of the Worst
1991Bed of Lies
1992Celebrations
1992'
1993'
1993'
1994'
1994On Trial
1994Golf - The Greatest Game
1994Heroes of the Game
1994Without Warning
1994Murder in the First
1995Prince for a Day
1996'
1996Surviving Picasso
1997L.A. Confidential
1998Terror at the Mall
1998Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary Show
1998'
1998Confirmation
1998Legends, Icons and Superstars
1999To Serve and Protect
1999Celebrate the Century