Martin Poll (November 24, 1922 – April 14, 2012) was an American film and television producer. Polls produced eleven feature films during his career, including The Lion in Winter, for which he received a 1968 Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture.[1] The Lion in Winter, which starred Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, received nine nominations and won three Academy Awards. It also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama.[1]
Poll was born on November 24, 1922, in New York City.[2] Poll launched his production career in 1954, when he produced thirty-nine episodes of the televisions series, Flash Gordon, for distribution in West Germany and France.[1]
Poll purchased and restored the Biograph Studios, a studio facility and film laboratory complex in the Bronx, during the 1950s. He reopened the studios in 1956 under a new name, Gold Medal Studios.[1] The reopening made the Bronx-based facility the largest film studio in the United States located outside of Los Angeles at the time.[1] Poll helped create numerous films at Gold Medal Studios, including A Face in the Crowd in 1957, The Goddess in 1958, The Fugitive Kind in 1959, Middle of the Night in 1959, and BUtterfield 8 in 1960.[1] Poll was appointed the Commissioner of Motion Picture Arts of New York City in 1959 for his work with Gold Medal Studios.[1] The New York City government soon established its own film commission shortly after Poll's appointment.[1] Poll sold Gold Medal Studios during the early 1960s to focus on film production.[2]
In addition to his body of film work, Poll also produced television series, films and specials as well. His credits included The Dain Curse, a 1978 CBS television miniseries; The Fantastic Seven, a 1979 CBS television movie; and Diana: Her True Story, a TV film which aired on NBC in 1993 based on a book by Andrew Morton.[1][2]
Poll earned an Emmy nomination for executive producing a remake of The Lion in Winter, starring Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine, which aired on Showtime in 2003.[1][2]
Martin Poll died in New York City on April 14, 2012, at the age of 89.[2] He was survived by his wife, Gladys Poll; three sons - Mark Poll, Tony Jaffe and Jon Poll, a film editor and film director; and three grandchildren.[1]
Film production credits
Poll produced eleven studio films. His credits included two films loosely based on Russian and Japanese novels: Love and Death (as executive producer), which was based on a Russian novel and directed by Woody Allen in 1975, and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea in 1976, which was based on a Yukio Mishima novel.[1]
- Love Is a Ball (1963)
- Sylvia (1965)
- The Lion in Winter (1968)
- The Appointment (1969)
- The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970)
- The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)
- Night Watch (1973)
- The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
- Love and Death (1975)- (executive producer)
- The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976)
- Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978)
- Nighthawks (1981)
- Haunted Summer (1988)
- My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Martin Poll dies at 89, Producer drew Oscar nom for 'The Lion in Winter'". Variety Magazine. 2012-04-16. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118052696?refCatId=13. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ a b c d e "Martin Poll dies at 89; veteran producer best known for 'Lion in Winter'". Los Angeles Times. 2012-04-17. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/17/local/la-me-passings-20120417. Retrieved 2012-04-24.