Ely Abraham Landau (January 20, 1920 – November 4, 1993) was an American producer and production executive best remembered for films of plays in the American Film Theatre series.
Landau began working in television as a director and producer in the late 1940s following World War II military service. Landau co-founded National Telefilm Associates, a New York-based television distribution company, with Oliver A. Unger[2] and Harold Goldman in 1954 and subsequently became the president and chairman of the board of the company.[3] Among NTA's assets were television stations including WNTA-TV in Newark, N.J.[2] (now WNET),[4] whose pioneering programming included award-winning shows such as Play of the Week,Open End (hosted by David Susskind), and The Mike Wallace Interviews. Landau won a Peabody Award for The Play of the Week, a series of stage plays mounted for television from 1959 to 1961. NTA, which won praise for being innovative, distributed the series, for which Landau was primarily responsible. In a 1959 interview, he said: "With this I'm bucking the trend. But I don't think any independent station is going to succeed if it just does the Westerns and crime and situation comedy shows that we find everywhere else."[1]
The Landau-Unger Company was sold to Commonwealth United Corporation in 1967, at which time he was named president and CEO.[5] In 1970, he compiled and produced the 185-minute television documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis, an account of the public career of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The documentary was praised as achieving a density and shapeliness that would be rare in any movie, let alone a documentary committed to the sequence of actual events.
Always interested in adapting theatrical productions to film, he founded the American Film Theatre in 1972 to make movies adaptations of stage plays.
landau, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2008, lear. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ely Landau news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ely Abraham Landau January 20 1920 November 4 1993 was an American producer and production executive best remembered for films of plays in the American Film Theatre series Ely LandauLandau on the set of King A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis c 1970Born 1920 01 20 January 20 1920New York CityDiedNovember 4 1993 1993 11 04 aged 73 Midway HospitalLos Angeles CaliforniaSpouseEdythe Rein 1 Children5 including Les Jon and Tina Landau 1 Landau began working in television as a director and producer in the late 1940s following World War II military service Landau co founded National Telefilm Associates a New York based television distribution company with Oliver A Unger 2 and Harold Goldman in 1954 and subsequently became the president and chairman of the board of the company 3 Among NTA s assets were television stations including WNTA TV in Newark N J 2 now WNET 4 whose pioneering programming included award winning shows such as Play of the Week Open End hosted by David Susskind and The Mike Wallace Interviews Landau won a Peabody Award for The Play of the Week a series of stage plays mounted for television from 1959 to 1961 NTA which won praise for being innovative distributed the series for which Landau was primarily responsible In a 1959 interview he said With this I m bucking the trend But I don t think any independent station is going to succeed if it just does the Westerns and crime and situation comedy shows that we find everywhere else 1 In 1961 Landau and Unger turned to feature film production forming the Landau Unger Company which produced films such as Long Day s Journey into Night 1962 and The Pawnbroker 1964 The earlier film a screen rendering of the play by Eugene O Neill was shown at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival where its stars Katharine Hepburn Ralph Richardson Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell won the Best Actress and Actor awards collectively The Landau Unger Company also distributed The Eleanor Roosevelt Story 1965 which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary The Landau Unger Company was sold to Commonwealth United Corporation in 1967 at which time he was named president and CEO 5 In 1970 he compiled and produced the 185 minute television documentary King A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis an account of the public career of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr The documentary was praised as achieving a density and shapeliness that would be rare in any movie let alone a documentary committed to the sequence of actual events Always interested in adapting theatrical productions to film he founded the American Film Theatre in 1972 to make movies adaptations of stage plays Select producing credits EditThe Pawnbroker 1965 Three Sisters 1966 The Madwoman of Chaillot 1969 A Delicate Balance 1973 The Homecoming 1973 Butley 1974 The Iceman Cometh 1974 Lost in the Stars 1974 Luther 1974 Rhinoceros 1974 Galileo 1975 In Celebration 1975 The Maids 1975 The Man in the Glass Booth 1975 The Greek Tycoon 1978 Hopscotch 1980 Beatlemania The Movie 1981 The Chosen 1981 The Holcroft Covenant 1985 References Edit a b c Ely Landau Producer 73 Dies Filmed Plays for TV and Theaters New York Times a b Battaglio Stephen 2010 David Susskind A Televised Life St Martin s Press p 42 ISBN 0312382863 Oliver Unger Quits NTA Charles Glett Successor BOXOFFICE 1961 05 29 Retrieved 2009 03 09 Forbes The Used Movie Czars May 15 1958 Commonwealth Buy of Landau Unger To Give Show Biz Accent to Holding Co Variety August 9 1967 p 7 External links Edit Biography portalEly Landau at IMDb Ely Landau at AllMovie Ely Landau at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ely Landau amp oldid 1117386146, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
