Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan, photographed in 2007.
Born
(1929-05-31)May 31, 1929

Tiberias (then Mandate Palestine)
DiedAugust 8, 2014(2014-08-08) (aged 85)
Israel
NationalityIsraeli
Other namesJoseph Goldman
Occupation(s)Director, producer
Known forFounder of Golan-Globus

Menahem Golan (Hebrew: מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 - August 8, 2014) was an Israeli director and producer. He produced movies for such stars as Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Charles Bronson, and was known for a period as a producer of comic book-style movies like Masters of the Universe, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Captain America, and his aborted attempt to bring Spider-Man to the silver screen. Using the pen name of Joseph Goldman, Golan also wrote and "polished" film scripts.[1] He was co-owner of Golan-Globus with his cousin Yoram Globus.[2] Golan produced about 200 films, directed 44, won 8 times the Violin David Awards and The Israel Prize in Cinema.

Biography

Menahem Golan was born on May 31, 1929, in Tiberias, then Mandate Palestine. He studied directing at the Old Vic School and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and filmmaking at New York University. During the Israeli War of Independence he served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force.

Directing and film career

Golan started out as an apprentice at Habima Theater in Tel Aviv. After completing his studies in theater direction, he staged plays in Israel. He gained experience as a filmmaker by working as an assistant to Roger Corman.[3]

As a director, Golan is probably most known for his 1977 film Operation Thunderbolt (Mivtsa Yonatan), about the Israeli raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda. He also produced the 1978 film Eskimo Limon (Lemon Popsicle), spawning many sequels and an American remake named The Last American Virgin.

In 1979, he did an adaptation of an Isaac Bashevis Singer novel entitled The Magician of Lublin. Golan was responsible for the 1980 musical The Apple, an unusual moral fable with a rock-disco soundtrack which appears on a number of lists of all-time-worst movies, but has developed a following as a cult film.[4]

Golan's production company The Cannon Group produced a long line of movies during the 1980s and early 1990s, such as Delta Force, Runaway Train, and some of the Death Wish sequels. In 1986, Cannon was taken over by Pathe Communications. Golan produced several comic book-style movies in the latter half of the 1980s, perhaps most notably Masters of the Universe, based on the toys of the same name and inspired by the comics work of Jack Kirby.[5] In 1987, Cannon gained infamy after their U.K.-based production of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace failed in theaters and provoked a negative backlash from fans. In 1989 Golan resigned from Cannon, and by 1993 it had folded. Immediately following Cannon's collapse, Golan became head of 21st Century Film Corporation and produced several medium-budget films.

Golan was hoping to film Spider-Man in 1986 at Cannon studios in United Kingdom, and shoot the exteriors in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Dolph Lundgren was envisioned as the Green Goblin and Spider-Man creator Stan Lee was approached to cameo as J. Jonah Jameson.[6] Golan struggled for years to produce the Marvel Comics character, but failed after 21st Century Film Corporation went bankrupt and folded in 1996 (along with Carolco Pictures, another production company that had agreed to help Golan finance the film). Sony Pictures eventually got the Spider-Man rights and produced the first film in 2002. In 2002 he released his adaptation of Crime and Punishment.

Personal life and death

Golan was married and has three children.[3] He died at the age of 85 in 2014.[7]

Filmography as director

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Awards and commemoration

References

  1. ^ Ronald Grover. "Unraveling Spider-Man's Tangled Web". Business Week (April 15, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  2. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (March 1, 1989). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Golan Quits Cannon Group To Form His Own Company". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  3. ^ a b "Writers and Production Artists: Menachem Golan". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  4. ^ Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985).
  5. ^ Cronin, Brian. "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" #75 (November 2, 2006).
  6. ^ Jankiewicz, Pat . "Scott Leva, the Man Who Was Almost Spider-Man". Starlog/Comics Scene Presents Spider-Man 1 (1): 62–64 (July 2002).
  7. ^ Richard Natale "Menachem Golan, Who Headed Cannon Films, Dies at 85", Variety, 8 August 2014.
  8. ^ "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  9. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1999 (in Hebrew)".

See also

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