Mazursky, Paul
(Irwin Lawrence Mazursky), 1939-2014, American film director, screenwriter,
and actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Brooklyn College (B.A., 1951). Mazursky made
his film acting debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Fear and
Desire (1953), and subsequently portrayed one of the rebellious
teenagers in The Blackboard Jungle (1955); he made several
more appearances in TV dramas through the early ‘60s. He began
writing for TV variety shows, including The Danny Kaye Show
(1963) and coauthored the pilot episode of The Monkees
(1965). He cowrote, directed, and produced Bob & Carol & Ted
& Alice (1968), beginning a long career as a film director.
His best-known films included Harry and Tonto (1974),
An Unmarried Woman (1978), Moscow on the
Hudson (1984), and Down and Out in Beverly
Hills (1986). His career slowed in the ‘90s, although he
continued to direct films through 2006, with his work earning a total of 12
Academy Award and 19 Golden Globe nominations. Mazursky also made several
cameo appearances in his own films and on television.
See his autobiography (1999); S. Wasson, Paul on Mazursky
(2011).
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