Frank Yablans
{{Short description|American screenwriter and film producer (1935 - 2014)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frank Yablans
| image = Frank Yablans (1972).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Yablans in 1972
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|08|27}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|11|27|1935|08|27}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Film producer
Studio head
| known_for = President of Paramount Pictures
| parents =
| children = 3
| spouse = {{marriage|Ruth Edelstein|1958|1990|reason=divorced}}
| partner = Nadia Pandolfo
}}
Frank Yablans (August 27, 1935 – November 27, 2014) was an American studio executive, film producer, and screenwriter. Yablans served as an executive at Paramount Pictures, including President of the studio, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life
Frank Yablans was born in Brooklyn, New York to Annette and Morris Yablans. Yablans' father was a taxi driver. His older brother, Irwin Yablans, produced Halloween (1978).{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911142,00.html |title=Show Business: The Promoter: Frank Yablans |magazine=Time |date=18 March 1974 |access-date=3 May 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222072945/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911142,00.html| archive-date=December 22, 2008}} Yablans was Jewish.{{Cite news|first=Gary |last= Arnold |title=Frank Yablans - 'Someone Has To Play the Heavy' |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 19, 1978|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/03/19/frank-yablans-someone-has-to-play-the-heavy/906e7077-29e2-4340-a0b8-76b8cd341554/}}{{cite book|first= Patricia |last=Erens|title=
v2Di_5ShGMC&q=Frank+Yab&pg=PA392 392]}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0byBwAAQBAJ&dq=%22frank+yablans%22&pg=PA108|first=John|last=Cones|title=Motion Picture Biographies: The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures|pages=108 |publisher=Algora Publishing|date=April 2015|isbn=9781628941166}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3ucTdpeE9YC&dq=%22frank+yablans%22&pg=PA145|first= Peter|last=Biskind|title=Easy Riders Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood|pages= 145|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=April 4, 1999|isbn=9780684857084}}
Career
Yablans entered the motion picture business in 1956, joining Warner Bros. sales.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Frank Yablans Resigns Par Presidency|date=November 13, 1974|page=3|last=Murphy|first=A.D.}} In 1959, he joined Buena Vista as the Milwaukee sales manager where he stayed until 1966. He joined Sigma III and later transitioned to Filmways after it acquired Sigma III.
He became executive vice president of sales for Paramount Pictures in June 1969, where his marketing of the film Love Story (1970), led to his appointment as Paramount Studios' president on May 10, 1971.
As head of Paramount, he oversaw the release and marketing of The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), and Chinatown (1974).{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/business/media/frank-yablans-film-executive-dies-at-79.html?_r=0 | work=The New York Times | first=Michael | last=Cieply | title=Frank Yablans, Paramount Executive in Fertile '70s, Dies at 79 | date=28 November 2014}} He also personally supervised the 100th birthday celebrations of studio founder Adolph Zukor in January 1973. Following a reorganization at Paramount in which Charles Bluhdorn, the chairman and CEO of Gulf & Western Industries, was replaced by Barry Diller, Yablans announced his resignation as president on November 8, 1974.
After leaving Paramount he became an independent producer, working primarily through Paramount and 20th Century Fox. He was executive producer of Silver Streak (1976), The Other Side of Midnight (1977), Congo (1995), and the HBO series Rome. He also produced and adapted the screenplays for North Dallas Forty (1979) and Mommie Dearest (1981), both based on books.
Yablans was recruited by Kirk Kerkorian to head his troubled and debt-laden film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/20/books/books-of-the-times-what-went-wrong-at-m-g-m-by-a-participant.html |title=Books of The Times; What Went Wrong at M-G-M, by a Participant - New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=20 June 1990 |access-date=3 May 2012 |first=Christopher |last=Lehmann-Haupt}} While Yablans' reorganization of MGM and United Artists (UA) into a single entity (as MGM/UA) served to reduce costs and overhead, the company continued to lose value, and in 1986 was purchased by Ted Turner Productions for a reported $1.25 billion.{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-13-ca-25198-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=David T. | last=Friendly | title=LEO ROARS HIS LAST AT THE OLD MGM STAND : Culver City Sound Stages Lose Some Old Trademarks and Take On a New Identity With New Owners | date=13 November 1986}} He then formed Northstar Entertainment Corporation, with a partnership at Producers Sales Organization.{{Cite news|date=1985-05-15|title=Frank Yablans Unveil Prod. Plans In PSO Coventure|page=5|work=Variety}} In 1986, he set up a two-year, seven-picture agreement with low-budget studio Empire International to produce feature films.{{Cite news|last=Klein|first=Richard|date=1986-10-22|title=Empire Has 40 To Lure Buyers|pages=13, 312|work=Variety}} In 1987, director Arthur Seidelman partnered with Yablans to produce feature films.{{Cite news|last=Silverman|first=Marie Saxon|date=1987-01-28|title=Vet Director Arthur Seidelman Teams Up With Frank Yablans|page=14|work=Variety}}
In 2000, Yablans and partners Cindy Bond, Charlie Stuart Gay and Ron Booth founded Promenade Pictures, a production and marketing company committed to "family-friendly" entertainment. Its most ambitious project was the "Epic Stories of the Bible" series of CGI-animated features, starting with The Ten Commandments (2007) and Noah's Ark: The New Beginning (2012).
Death
Yablans died on Thanksgiving, November 27, 2014, from natural causes at the age of 79.{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/frank-yablans-dead-at-79-752713|title=Former Paramount President Frank Yablans Dies at 79|first=Mike |last=Barnes|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=27 November 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Saperstein|first1=Pat|title=Frank Yablans, Former Paramount President, Dies at 79|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/frank-yablans-former-paramount-president-dies-at-79-1201366148/|access-date=28 November 2014|work=Variety|date=27 November 2014}} He had three children – Robert Yablans (deceased), Sharon Abrams, and Edward Yablans.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0944747|Frank Yablans}}
{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay 1980–2000}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yablans, Frank}}
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Jewish American screenwriters
Category:American film studio executives
Category:Paramount Pictures executives
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives