Name John Kemeny | Role Film producer | |
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Died November 23, 2012, Sedona, Arizona, United States Spouse Margaret Kemeny (m. ?–2012) Awards Golden Screen Award, Genie Award - Special Achievement, Genie Award for Best Motion Picture Nominations Academy Award for Best Picture Movies Quest for Fire, The Apprenticeship of Duddy, Atlantic City, The Gate, The Gate II: Trespassers Similar People Denis Heroux, Donald Brittain, Andras Hamori, Jacques Dorfmann, Mike Marvin | ||
John Kemeny (April 17, 1925 – November 23, 2012) was a Hungarian-born Canadian film producer whom the Toronto Star dubbed "the forgotten giant of Canadian film history." His production credits included the well-known 1974 film, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which starred Richard Dreyfuss, directed by Ted Kotcheff, based on a novel by Mordecai Richler. Kemeny also produced the 1980 romantic comedy, Atlantic City, starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon.
Kemeny left Hungary after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and moved to Montreal, where he found work as a film editor at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1959. He went on to produce such NFB films as Memorandum, Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen, The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar and Don't Let the Angels Fall until leaving the NFB in 1972 to work in the private sector.
Kemeny died from cancer at his home in Sedona, Arizona, on November 23, 2012, at the age of 87.