Charles Guggenheim
Charles Guggenheim | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Eli Guggenheim March 31, 1924 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 2002 (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Other names | Charles E. Guggenheim |
| Education | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1952–2002 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Marion Guggenheim
(m. 1957; died 2002) |
| Children | 3, including Davis Guggenheim |
Charles Eli Guggenheim (March 31, 1924 – October 9, 2002) was an American documentary film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was the most honored documentary filmmaker in the academy history, winning four Oscars from twelve nominations.
Early life
Guggenheim was born in
Career
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
Guggenheim's first job was working for Lew Cohen at
In 1956, he produced the first political advertisement broadcast on television (for losing candidate
Guggenheim worked on Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign; after Sen. Kennedy was assassinated, Guggenheim was asked by the Kennedy family to put together a tribute for the 1968 Chicago Convention. It was completed in less than two months. It was shown at the convention and broadcast simultaneously. The convention hall came to a standstill for twenty minutes. The resulting film, Robert Kennedy Remembered (1968), won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Although Guggenheim occasionally ventured into feature and political film production, he stayed mostly with documentary films. He quit producing political campaign advertisements in the early 1980s saying, "If you play the piano in a house full of ill repute, it doesn't matter how well you play the piano." He won two more Oscars for short subject documentary film-making, for The Johnstown Flood (1989) and A Time for Justice (1995). He received twelve nominations in total.
His last documentary was produced with his daughter and colleague (since 1986), Grace Guggenheim, the 2003 TV documentary film Berga: Soldiers of Another War, a little-known story about a group of 350 American soldiers captured by the
(Guggenheim, who was Jewish, had himself been a member of the 106th Division, which had the highest casualty rate of the Allied Divisions. But a severe leg infection caused him to be left behind when his unit was shipped overseas.)
Guggenheim finished the film six weeks before his death in October 2002 from pancreatic cancer. Soldiers and Slaves, a companion book to the film, was published by Roger Cohen, New York Times and Herald Tribune columnists using research materials.
Personal life
Guggenheim married Marion Streett in 1957. They had three children: Davis, Grace, and Jonathan. Davis followed in his father's footsteps as a documentary filmmaker and won an Oscar for best documentary in 2007 for An Inconvenient Truth.
Honors and legacy
Guggenheim is recognized with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[4]
Archives
The moving image collection of Charles Guggenheim is held at the Academy Film Archive. The Charles Guggenheim papers at the academy's Margaret Herrick Library complement the film material at the Academy Film Archive.[5] Guggenheim's film Children Without was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.[6]
Filmography
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, 1959 (fictional drama)
- United in Progress, 1962, documentary produced for the US Information Agency on the tangible benefits of the Alliance for Progress
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject), produced for the US Information Agency
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)(continuously shown at the St. Louis Gateway Arch)
- Robert Kennedy Remembered, 1968, winner of the 1969 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- High Schools, 1984, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
- The Making of Liberty, 1986[7]
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
See also
- Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award
References
- ^ a b c d Encyclopaedia Judaica (2007)
- ^ Newsmakers (2003) Gale. Detroit
- ISBN 978-1-61234-771-4.
- ^ St. Louis Walk of Fame. "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". stlouiswalkoffame.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "Charles Guggenheim Collection". Academy Film Archive.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
- ^ The Making of Liberty (1986) - IMDb
Sources
- "Charles Guggenheim". The Times. London. October 12, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
- Saxon, Wolfgang (October 11, 2002). "Charles Guggenheim, Filmmaker, Dies at 78". The New York Times. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
- McLellan, Dennis (October 11, 2002). "Charles Guggenheim, 78 ; Oscar-winning filmmaker shot political biographies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
- McLellan, Denis (October 11, 2002). "Charles Guggenheim, 78; His Documentaries Won 4 Academy Awards". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
External links
- "Guggenheim Productions, official website". Retrieved June 28, 2017.
- "The Charles Guggenheim Collection". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
- Charles Guggenheim at IMDb
- Works by or about Charles Guggenheim at Internet Archive
