Zev Braun(1928-2019)
- Producer
- Actor
- Executive
Chicago-born Braun has been a successful and honored filmmaker for over
30 years. In 1964, his production of "Goldstein" won the Prix De la
Nouvelle Critique at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1974, his
co-production of Maximilian Schell's "The Pedestrian" won the Golden
Globe Award as Best Foreign Film and was nominated for an Academy Award
in the same category. His production of "The Little Girl Who Lives Down
The Lane", starring Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen, was voted Best
Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Films. In 1986, Braun again teamed up with director Schell to
co-produce "Marlene", which earned him another Academy Award nomination
for Best Documentary Feature along with winning the New York Film
Critics Award, The National Society of Film Critics Award and the
National Board of Review Award. Braun's all-consuming interest in
filmmaking led him fresh from studying Humanities and Classic Arts at
the University of Chicago to enter movies while still serving as
President of Braun International, his family's packaging firm. Some of
Mr. Braun's other productions include: "Angela", starring Sophia Loren
and John Huston; "Freedom Road", starring Muhammad Ali and Kris
Kristofferson; "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu", starring Peter
Sellers and Helen Mirren; and "Where are the Children", starring Jill
Clayburgh and Frederick Forrest.
The 1987-88 television season saw the company bring to the screen a
two-hour movie-for-television, "Stillwatch", starring Lynda Carter and
Angie Dickinson; a four-hour mini-series, "Murder Ordained", starring
JoBeth Williams, Keith Carradine and Terry Kinney; a two-hour NBC
movie, "The Father Clements Story, starring Louis Gossett, Jr.,
Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Carroll O'Connor (winner of the Christopher
Award and CEBA Award). "Tour of Duty", the highly acclaimed weekly
prime-time series about the Vietnam War, also premiered in 1987 and ran
for three successful seasons on CBS. Other television series from Mr.
Braun include "Murphy's Law", starring George Segal, which ran on ABC
and "Bagdad Cafe", starring Whoopie Goldberg and Jean Stapleton for
CBS. In 1991, Braun produced "A Seduction in Travis County", a two-hour
movie for CBS, starring Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Coyote and Jean Smart.
Expanding into the cable marketplace, he produced "Split Images", a
two-hour movie based upon the best selling novel by Elmore Leonard and
starring Gregory Harrison. In 1994, Braun produced the critically
praised four-hour mini-series "Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills for
CBS starring Edward James Olmos and Beverly D'Angelo. Also that year at
CBS was "Dominick Dunne's 919 Fifth Avenue", a two-hour pilot movie
that starred James Marsden and Denise Richards.
In 1996, "Abducted: A Father's Love, a two-hour NBC movie starring
Chris Noth, Peter MacNichol and Stepfanie Krammer, turned out to be one
of the highest rated television movies for the year and was highly
acclaimed, as well. "Lethal Vows", starring John Ritter and Marg
Helgenberger, aired on CBS in 1999, and also proved extremely
successful.
Braun then produced "Edges of the Lord", a feature film shot in Poland
and starring Haley Joel Osment and Willem Dafoe, distributed by Miramax
Films.
He executive produced the CBS 2005 May Sweeps entry, "Amber Frey:
Witness for the Prosecution" starring Janel Moloney.
Most recently, Braun won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Movie for
Television for the highly rated movie he produced for Lifetime
Television, "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story", directed by
Agnieszka Holland starring Mercedes Ruehl.
Braun is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as
well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He serves on the
Board of Trustees for The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR)
and the Board of Directors for The Heart Touch Project. Zev Braun was
also a founding member of the Board of Directors for GIRF (the
Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation) of the University of Chicago
hospitals as well as the Chairman of the Board for the International
Kidney Institute at UCLA. Braun also served as a member of the Board of
Trustees for the Saban Vaccine Institute. He was awarded the City of
Hope's Golden Key for his work in connection with this organization.
30 years. In 1964, his production of "Goldstein" won the Prix De la
Nouvelle Critique at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1974, his
co-production of Maximilian Schell's "The Pedestrian" won the Golden
Globe Award as Best Foreign Film and was nominated for an Academy Award
in the same category. His production of "The Little Girl Who Lives Down
The Lane", starring Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen, was voted Best
Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Films. In 1986, Braun again teamed up with director Schell to
co-produce "Marlene", which earned him another Academy Award nomination
for Best Documentary Feature along with winning the New York Film
Critics Award, The National Society of Film Critics Award and the
National Board of Review Award. Braun's all-consuming interest in
filmmaking led him fresh from studying Humanities and Classic Arts at
the University of Chicago to enter movies while still serving as
President of Braun International, his family's packaging firm. Some of
Mr. Braun's other productions include: "Angela", starring Sophia Loren
and John Huston; "Freedom Road", starring Muhammad Ali and Kris
Kristofferson; "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu", starring Peter
Sellers and Helen Mirren; and "Where are the Children", starring Jill
Clayburgh and Frederick Forrest.
The 1987-88 television season saw the company bring to the screen a
two-hour movie-for-television, "Stillwatch", starring Lynda Carter and
Angie Dickinson; a four-hour mini-series, "Murder Ordained", starring
JoBeth Williams, Keith Carradine and Terry Kinney; a two-hour NBC
movie, "The Father Clements Story, starring Louis Gossett, Jr.,
Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Carroll O'Connor (winner of the Christopher
Award and CEBA Award). "Tour of Duty", the highly acclaimed weekly
prime-time series about the Vietnam War, also premiered in 1987 and ran
for three successful seasons on CBS. Other television series from Mr.
Braun include "Murphy's Law", starring George Segal, which ran on ABC
and "Bagdad Cafe", starring Whoopie Goldberg and Jean Stapleton for
CBS. In 1991, Braun produced "A Seduction in Travis County", a two-hour
movie for CBS, starring Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Coyote and Jean Smart.
Expanding into the cable marketplace, he produced "Split Images", a
two-hour movie based upon the best selling novel by Elmore Leonard and
starring Gregory Harrison. In 1994, Braun produced the critically
praised four-hour mini-series "Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills for
CBS starring Edward James Olmos and Beverly D'Angelo. Also that year at
CBS was "Dominick Dunne's 919 Fifth Avenue", a two-hour pilot movie
that starred James Marsden and Denise Richards.
In 1996, "Abducted: A Father's Love, a two-hour NBC movie starring
Chris Noth, Peter MacNichol and Stepfanie Krammer, turned out to be one
of the highest rated television movies for the year and was highly
acclaimed, as well. "Lethal Vows", starring John Ritter and Marg
Helgenberger, aired on CBS in 1999, and also proved extremely
successful.
Braun then produced "Edges of the Lord", a feature film shot in Poland
and starring Haley Joel Osment and Willem Dafoe, distributed by Miramax
Films.
He executive produced the CBS 2005 May Sweeps entry, "Amber Frey:
Witness for the Prosecution" starring Janel Moloney.
Most recently, Braun won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Movie for
Television for the highly rated movie he produced for Lifetime
Television, "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story", directed by
Agnieszka Holland starring Mercedes Ruehl.
Braun is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as
well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He serves on the
Board of Trustees for The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR)
and the Board of Directors for The Heart Touch Project. Zev Braun was
also a founding member of the Board of Directors for GIRF (the
Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation) of the University of Chicago
hospitals as well as the Chairman of the Board for the International
Kidney Institute at UCLA. Braun also served as a member of the Board of
Trustees for the Saban Vaccine Institute. He was awarded the City of
Hope's Golden Key for his work in connection with this organization.