A veteran Hollywood producer, Paul Maslansky has ha an eclectic career. He entered showbiz as a trumpet player with a number of bands in his native Manhattan. After a sojourn in radio advertising sales, Maslansky moved to Europe where her served as an assistant director and later production manager on European films, including Carol Reed's "The Running Man" (1963). He subsequently produced the first Italo-Soviet co-production, Mikhail Kalatozov's "The Red Tent" (1971), and the first joint US-USSR film venture, George Cukor's "The Blue Bird" (1976). But American audiences are probably most aware of his low-brow but extremely successful "Police Academy" franchise which has spawned six sequels and two TV versions. Returning to Moscow, Maslansky co-produced a rare prestige picture, Fred Schepisi's adaptation of John le Carre's "The Russia House" (1990), which teamed Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. Maslansky also has made occasional forays into American TV. In addition to an animated and live-action version of "Police Academy: The Series" (syndicated, 1989 and 1997 respectively), he oversaw the Emmy-nominated biographical miniseries "King" (NBC, 1978), featuring Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson.
- Born:
November 23, 1933 in New York City, New York, USA
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Job Titles:
Producer, Assistant director, Director, Production manager, Screenwriter, Trumpeter
Family
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Son: Sam Maslansky. adopted 17-son old Romanian orphan in October 1990
Education
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Cinematheque Francaise, Paris, France
Milestones
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1959 Worked in Europe as production manager
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1959 Produced first project, a live jazz concert starring Jimmy Witherspoon (date approximate)
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1959 Sold AM radio advertising space in Kansas City and worked for a band
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1962 Initial film credit, assistant director on The Counterfeit Traitor , directed by George Seaton
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1964 First film as producer (also writer), Il castello dei morti vivi/Castle of the Living Dead
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1967 Covered war in Israel for CBS film unit
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1974 Initial TV production, the ABC movie The Gun and the Pulpit
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1976 Was one of the producers of the ill-fated US-USSR co-production The Blue Bird , directed by George Cukor
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1978 Produced the Emmy-nominated TV miniseries, King (NBC)
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1984 Had hit with Police Academy which spawned seven sequels and two television adaptations
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1989 Served as creative supervisor and executive producer of the syndicated an animated Police Academy: The Series
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1990 Abandoned low-brow comedies to co-produce Fred Schepisi s The Russia House
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1997 Revived Police Academy: The Series as a syndicated live action show
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Played trumpet with bands in New York
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Was in charge of physical production in Europe for United Artists