Movies Beyond Rangoon Role Film producer | Name Eric Pleskow Ethnicity Jewish | |
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Born April 24, 1924 (age 99) ( 1924-04-24 ) Vienna, Austria Occupation Film producer
Media executive Known for President of United Artists and Orion Pictures Similar People Arthur B Krim, Mike Medavoy, Barry Spikings, William J Bernstein, John Boorman | ||
Nationality Austrian
United States Organizations founded Orion Pictures | ||
Vienna To Hollywood: Pleskow
Eric Pleskow (born April 24, 1924 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian film producer and the former president of the movie studios United Artists and Orion Pictures.
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Biography
Pleskow was the son of Jewish merchants. After the Anschluss and the following Aryanization of their apartment, the family emigrated to the USA in 1938. In 1943, he was conscripted into the army. After the Second World War Pleskow returned to Austria and guided five interrogations during denazifications. Due to his short education in film editing, which he finished before joining the army, he became film officer (US War Department) in 1945 and was assigned to rebuild the Bavaria Film Studios.
From 1951 he was working for United Artists and was responsible for the movie rental in Europe and South Africa. He also started to produce movies himself. In 1973 he became president of United Artists. Under his presidency United Artists won the Academy Award (Oscar) for the best picture three years in a row (1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1976: Rocky, 1977: Annie Hall).
In 1978, Pleskow left United Artists and built up Orion Pictures, which he directed until 1992. Their greatest successes under his management were Amadeus, Dances with Wolves and The Silence of the Lambs.
Since 1998, Pleskow has been president of the Film Festival Viennale in Vienna. In February 2007, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Vienna, following Billy Wilder and Teddy Kollek (2001).
