Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905 – July 13, 1996), known as Pandro S. Berman, was an Academy Award-winning American film producer.
His father Henry was general manager of Universal Pictures during Hollywood's formative years. The younger Berman (Pan to his friends) spent most of the 1920s as an assistant director, learning the business from such masters as Mal St. Clair and Tod Browning.
In 1930, Berman was hired as a film editor at fledgling...
more
Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905 – July 13, 1996), known as Pandro S. Berman, was an Academy Award-winning American film producer.
His father Henry was general manager of Universal Pictures during Hollywood's formative years. The younger Berman (Pan to his friends) spent most of the 1920s as an assistant director, learning the business from such masters as Mal St. Clair and Tod Browning.
In 1930, Berman was hired as a film editor at fledgling RKO Radio Pictures, then became an assistant producer. When RKO supervising producer William LeBaron walked out during production of the ill-fated The Gay Diplomat (1931), Berman took over LeBaron's responsibilities, remaining in the driver's seat until 1939. He managed to survive David O. Selznick’s general firing of most of the staff, the independent producer recognising something in Berman that warranted making him his assistant.
During the Berman regime, the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals hit their peak, Katharine Hepburn rose to...
less