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Martin Bregman

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Martin Bregman
Born(1926-05-18)May 18, 1926
New York City, United States
DiedJune 16, 2018(2018-06-16) (aged 92)
New York City, United States
Resting placeKensico Cemetery[1]
OccupationFilm producer
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Driscoll (divorced)
  • Cornelia Sharpe
    (m. 1981)
Children3

Martin Leon "Marty" Bregman (May 18, 1926 – June 16, 2018)[2] was an American film producer and personal manager. He produced many films, including Scarface, Sea of Love, Venom, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, The Four Seasons, Betsy's Wedding, Carlito's Way, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power, The Bone Collector, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

Early life

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Bregman was born in New York City to Leon and Ida (Granowski) Bregman.[citation needed] He was Jewish and grew up in the Bronx.[3] As a child, he suffered from polio. He began his career selling insurance and first got into the entertainment business as a night club agent.

Career

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Building relationships with investors such as New York real estate magnate Lewis Rudin, Bregman moved successfully into personal management, eventually representing such stars as Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda and Bette Midler.[4] Bregman discovered Pacino in an Off Broadway play, and helped to support the actor as he built his stage and then film career, among other things working to land Pacino his first film role in 1971's Panic in Needle Park, winning out over then unknown actor Robert De Niro.[4]

Bregman ventured into film producing in 1973, building projects around Pacino, initially with the Sidney Lumet directed Serpico. The film's acclaim set the path for many more highly acclaimed collaborations with Pacino, including 1975's Dog Day Afternoon, 1983's Scarface, 1989's Sea of Love and 1993's Carlito's Way. In the 1970s Bregman nearly directed David Rabe's screenplay for First Blood with Pacino starring as John Rambo, but Pacino declined to appear because he found the story too dark.[5] Beginning in 1979 with The Seduction of Joe Tynan, and for most of the 1980s, Bregman enjoyed a successful run of films with writer/director Alan Alda. Their creative and business partnership yielded such well received films as The Four Seasons in 1981, Sweet Liberty in 1986, A New Life in 1988 and Betsy's Wedding, in 1990. Other films include 1999's The Bone Collector with Denzel Washington and 2002's The Adventures of Pluto Nash, starring Eddie Murphy, one of the producer's rare box-office failures.[6] While in 1983, both Alda and Bregman signed deals with Universal Pictures, he was moved off to movie production studio Lorimar Motion Pictures in 1986.[7]

Bregman also produced two short-lived television shows, 1980's S*H*E and 1984's The Four Seasons, with Alda, based on the films.[6]

Personal life

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Bregman lived in New York City and had two sons with former wife Elizabeth Driscoll, Christopher and film producer Michael (Sea of Love, Carlito's Way), and a daughter, singer Marissa Bregman,[8] with another wife, actress Cornelia Bregman (née Sharpe) (Serpico, Open Season, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, The Next Man, S*H*E, Venom). He died from a cerebral hemorrhage, aged 92, on June 16, 2018.[9]

Filmography

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He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

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Year Film Credit Notes Other notes
1973 Serpico
1975 Dog Day Afternoon
1976 The Next Man
1979 The Seduction of Joe Tynan
1980 S*H*E
Simon
1981 The Four Seasons
Venom
1983 Eddie Macon's Run
Scarface
1986 Sweet Liberty
1987 Real Men
1988 A New Life
1989 Sea of Love
1990 Betsy's Wedding
1992 Whispers in the Dark
Blue Ice
1993 The Real McCoy
Carlito's Way
1994 The Shadow
1995 Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain
1996 Matilda Executive producer
1997 Nothing to Lose
1998 One Tough Cop
1999 The Bone Collector
2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash
2003 Carolina
2005 Carlito's Way: Rise to Power Direct-to-video Final film as a producer
As an actor
Year Film Role Notes
1976 The Next Man None
Uncredited

Television

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Year Title Credit
1984 The Four Seasons Executive producer

References

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  1. ^ "Service information for Martin Bregman | Glascott Funeral Home". glascottfuneralhome.com.
  2. ^ Anita Gates (June 17, 2018). "Martin Bregman, Producer of 'Scarface' and 'Serpico,' Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  3. ^ Lindsay Rittenhouse, Just Kids From the Bronx: the true story of family, friendship and growing up, New York Observer, March 24, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Marty Bregman". Cityfile. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  5. ^ "First Blood". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Martin Bregman Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  7. ^ "Alda & Bregman In Pact with Lorimar". Variety. April 23, 1986. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Now You're in the Parade". March 22, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  9. ^ "Martin Bregman, 'Scarface' Producer, Dies at 92". Variety. June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
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