Occupation Film producer Name Richard Shepherd | Role Film producer | |
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Full Name Richard Allen Silberman Spouse Patricia Shepherd (m. 1979–2014), Judith Mayer Goetz (m. 1954–1968) Children Scott Shepherd, Victoria Shepherd, Tony Shepherd, Chris Shepherd Movies Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Fugitive Kind, The Hunger, Robin and Marian, The Hanging Tree Similar People George Axelrod, Richard Shepherd, Blake Edwards, Richard Lester, Tony Scott | ||
Richard "Dick" Shepherd (born Richard Allen Silberman, June 4, 1927 – January 14, 2014) was an American film producer.
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Biography
Born Richard Allen Silberman in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended Stanford University and studied journalism. After graduating, he worked for talent agent Lew Wasserman, selling syndicated TV shows. In the early 1950s, Jews were somewhat ostracized where he worked, and he changed his name to Shepherd, according to his son Scott. During his employment with Wasserman, Shepherd enlisted in the United States Army, writing stories for the Stars and Stripes newspaper in post-World War II Germany. After his service, he would go on to head production at Warner Bros. in 1970 and MGM in 1976, before founding his own agency, the Artists Agency, where he would work into his 70s.
His notable role as producer came with the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. When Paramount Pictures wanted to replace the signature song Moon River, both Shepherd and co-producer Martin Jurow exclaimed "Over our dead bodies!" The song later won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Personal life and death
Shepherd was married to Judith Mayer Goetz from 1954 to 1968. They had three children, Scott, Tony, and Victoria. In 1979, Shepherd married Patricia and had a son, Christopher, by her. Shepherd died at his home in Los Angeles, in 2014, at the age of 86, from kidney failure.