Producer: A Memoir

by David L. Wolper, Mike Wallace (Introduction), Art Buchwald (Introduction)

"It was David who first led me to understand the meaning of the word producer....He had a vision, he organized, he was there from conception to delivery, every time. It was his clairvoyance, his engagement, his encouragement, that made a Wolper production a joy to work on....I marvel at the variety of enterprises that have borne the David L. Wolper name, undertakings of quality, prestige, compassion, and distinction."
-- Mike Wallace From one of the most successful and influential producers in the entertainment industry -- responsible for classics such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, L.A. Confidential, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory -- comes a fascinating memoir of life at the very hub of Hollywood. David L. Wolper and television were both born in 1928, and their futures would be forever linked, as Wolper grew up to become one of the most significant television producers. His entrepreneurial talents were obvious from the start, when he sold homegrown radishes to his mother for a penny each and delivered sealed envelopes for the wiseguys who hung around New York's Copacabana nightclub. Part salesman, part visionary, Wolper began his television career in 1949 by peddling films to the newly created TV stations across the country. He left the distribution business in 1958 when he produced his first award-winning television documentary, Race for Space, about the competing U.S. and Russian space programs. From that point on, Wolper's career skyrocketed. His company, Wolper Productions, has created thousands of hours of diverse programming, including the two highest-rated miniseries of all time, Roots and The Thorn Birds; such landmark spectacles as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; hit comedies like Welcome Back, Kotter; the classic movies L.A. Confidential and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; film biographies of John Lennon and Elvis Presley; and acclaimed documentaries with Jacques Cousteau and the National Geographic Society. Despite Wolper's staggering success and his countless Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, he remains street-smart, wry, and surprisingly down-to-earth. Told in a conversational, comfortable voice, Producer is filled with funny and surprising anecdotes about such varied personalities as Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace and John Travolta, the Kennedys and Richard Nixon, and legends Orson Welles and Federico Fellini. By combining flexibility, resourcefulness, and determination, Wolper produced some of the landmark documentaries, films, miniseries, and entertainment events of the twentieth century. Producer is the engaging and inspiring memoir of a true pioneer.

Genres: Film, Memoir, Tv, Biography

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read in other industry memoirs how great this book was--and there are some interesting stories as well as politically incorrect opinions in six or eight great chapters. The problem is there are 42 chapters in the book and way too much time spent on totally insignificant documentary projects he worked on in the early days of television.

The first half of the book is weighed down by his getting into the doc business, in which he praises himself a lot for knowing how to sell and streamline budgets. He could have cut one hundred pages out of the first half of the book and it would have added to the pacing. Then he has sections on his big projects such as Roots, Thorn Birds, Willie Wonka, Chico and the Man, Welcome Back Kotter, the Olympics, and the stars he works with. But even those leave more to be desired. For a guy who put years into some of these hits they deserve more than a dozen pages or glossing over details.

The self-hype gets to be too much as well. I question a lot of his numbers and he had some facts wrong too. To write, "In 1960...cable did not exist" is simply wrong and ignorant coming from someone in the broadcasting business. His claim of starting reality TV or being the first with his type of documentary storytelling is historically inaccurate. Claiming the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours was stolen without compensation from his documentary of the Duke family with 18 children is just a lie--the Lucille Ball film was from a book about the real Beardsley-North family.

There are hints that the author worked with the Mafia early in his career, and there's not much about his private life. He throws some people under the bus and tells some surprising pre-star stories about John Travolta (positive) and LeVar Burton (very negative). Frank Sinatra is shown to be a real jerk, as he is in dozens of other memoirs. There are some odd racial comments made in the book and some may find Wolper to be uncaring or unsympathetic about liberal concerns, but he makes it clear that his bottom line was always to make money--not to please other people or make great political statements. The man ended up being pals with presidents and multimillionaires--no wonder he is considered a great producer.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

What’s the story? Is it true? Is it entertaining?

David L. Wolper left USC early to get in on TV at the start. He found these brand-new TV stations needed content - even boring travelogues about the Orkney Islands - to fill the space. In the early days, there weren’t even reruns. He traveled coast to coast meeting with these new station heads, selling footage he had acquired.

He also realized that history, well-packaged, could provide a jolt of entertainment to viewers benumbed by insipid sitcoms and dramas. If it were backed by network entertainment divisions, it wouldn’t ruffle the feathers/threaten their news divisions.

He brought quality composers and narrators and young (read cheap) documentarians to create some award-winning work, notably a history of the space race and partnerships with historian Theodore White and Jacques Cousteau.

And then came “Roots” — one of the most momentous productions in TV history. (The chapter on the extraordinary alignment that led to its creation and adaptation is the best in the.book).

The book is essentially how Wolper did everything—complete with missteps and a few projects he loved and couldn’t sell, like Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique.” It also includes a deadly tragedy of a production in California, of filming at the Munich Olympics-turned-terrorist site in 1972, and of a motion picture turn with “Willy Wonka” and “LA Confidential.” And yes, TV series work with “Welcome Back, Kotter” and “Chico and the Man.”

[A Cesspool · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another TV "producer"-aping-premier-Motion-Picture producer memoir.

David L. Wolper pioneered broadcast propaganda documentaries -- a trade he would later exploit while pantomiming realism for his War film: The Bridge at Remagen (1969) -- and operated one of the first, profitable Broadcast production Post-Production studios.

Wolper's legacy is repurposing media assets. No mas. so there.