24 Facts About Joe Pasternak

1.

Joseph Herman Joe Pasternak was born on Jozsef Paszternak; September 19,1901 – September 13,1991 and was a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood.

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2.

Joe Pasternak worked in the film industry for 45 years, from the later silent era until shortly past the end of the classical Hollywood cinema in the early 1960s.

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3.

Joe Pasternak'sfather was a town clerk and Pasternak was one of eleven children.

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4.

In 1922, Joe Pasternak gained a job as a busboy at Paramount's Astoria studio in Queens, New York City at $8 a week; after a year he was head waiter and making $120 a week, including tips.

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5.

Joe Pasternak produced a series of movies directed by, and often starring, William Dieterle: The Brandenburg Arch in 1929 with Paul Henckels and June Marlowe; Triumph of Love and Silence in the Forest in 1929; Rustle of Spring and Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, a drama, both in 1930, and One Hour of Happiness in 1931.

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6.

Joe Pasternak produced three films directed by Edmund Heuberger and starring Eddie Polo: Secret Police, Witnesses Wanted, and Of Life and Death .

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7.

Joe Pasternak shot Secret Agent and Johnny Steals Europe both with Harry Piel, then A Tremendously Rich Man with director Steve Sekely, Die unsichtbare Front and Pardon, tevedtem .

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8.

In 1938, Joe Pasternak did a comedy, Youth Takes a Fling, then was back with Durbin for That Certain Age, and Three Smart Girls Grow Up .

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9.

Joe Pasternak soon discovered another talented soprano, Gloria Jean, who began her own series in 1939, starting with The Under-Pup .

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10.

In June 1941, Joe Pasternak announced he had joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a producer for a reported $3,500 a week.

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11.

Joe Pasternak was responsible for Esther Williams' first proper vehicle, Thrill of a Romance, co-starring Van Johnson; it made over $3 million in profits.

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12.

Joe Pasternak made several non-musical romantic comedy hits, including Her Highness and the Bellboy with Hedy Lamarr and Robert Walker, and No Leave, No Love with Johnson.

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13.

However, around this time Joe Pasternak mostly specialized in musicals: Two Sisters from Boston with Grayson and Allyson was a box-office success, as was, Holiday in Mexico with Walter Pidgeon and Jane Powell in her debut for MGM.

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14.

Joe Pasternak unfortunately had a big flop with the Sinatra-Grayson musical The Kissing Bandit that same year, which lost MGM over $2 million.

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15.

Joe Pasternak bounced back with In the Good Old Summertime with Garland and Johnson, and introduced Mario Lanza in That Midnight Kiss with Kathryn Grayson, which was a solid hit.

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16.

Joe Pasternak produced the final Judy Garland film at MGM, Summer Stock in 1950, co-starring Gene Kelly, and then had the biggest hit of his career to date with The Great Caruso, a vehicle for Mario Lanza which made almost $4 million in profit for the studio.

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17.

Joe Pasternak again tried a drama, this time with Turner, Flame and the Flesh, but it was not a notable success.

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18.

Joe Pasternak did Hit the Deck with Powell, Vic Damone and Debbie Reynolds, which was popular but failed to recoup its cost.

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19.

Conversely, a tough biopic Joe Pasternak produced about Ruth Etting, Love Me or Leave Me, starring Doris Day and James Cagney, was a hit.

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20.

However, Joe Pasternak responded with a comedy starring Glenn Ford, The Courtship of Eddie's Father that was a hit; the film featured Ronny Howard, showing the producer still retained an ability to discover young performers.

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21.

In 1967, Joe Pasternak left MGM and became affiliated with 20th Century Fox, but made only one film for Fox, The Sweet Ride .

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22.

Joe Pasternak had a stroke before filming, and Sweet Ride would turn out to be his last film.

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23.

Joe Pasternak authored a lovely and knowledgeable cookbook entitled Cooking with Love and Paprika, published by Bernard Geis Associates in 1966.

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24.

Joe Pasternak died in Beverly Hills, California from complications arising from Parkinson's disease six days before his 90th birthday.

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