Jeannot Szwarc

{{Infobox person

| image =

| imagesize =

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| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|11|21|df=y}}

| birth_place = Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|1|14|1937|11|21|df=y}}

| death_place = Loches, Centre-Val de Loire, France

| citizenship = France

| education = {{Plainlist|

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| othername = Jean Szwarc

| occupation = Film director, television director

| yearsactive = 1961–2019{{cite web|url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jeannot_szwarc|title = Jeannot Szwarc|website = Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate = 15 January 2025}}

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

Maud Strand
Cara de Menaul

}}

| children = 2

}}

Jeannot Szwarc (21 November 1937 – 14 January 2025) was a French director known for his work in American film and television. His film credits included Jaws 2, Somewhere in Time, Supergirl and Santa Claus: The Movie. Szwarc had a prolific career spanning 6 decades before retirement from the industry in France.

Early life and education

Szwarc was born into a Polish-Jewish family in Paris on 21 November 1939. When the Germans invaded the French capital in 1940, his family fled first to Portugal via Spain and then to Argentina. Returning to France in 1947, Szwarc obtained his scientific baccalauréat at Lycée Claude-Bernard and followed the first year of preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) in mathematics and physics at Lycée Saint-Louis de Gonzague.{{Cite book |last=Schlockoff |first=Alain |title=L'Ecran fantastique: situation, perspectives, images |publisher=FilmEditions |year=1975 |pages=35}}

Citing ill-health, Szwarc was unable to pursue into Mathématiques spéciales, his second year of classes préparatoires in view of gaining entrance at a Grande École d'Ingénieurs{{Cite book |title=L'Express - Part 4 |publisher=Presse-Union |year=1977 |pages=18}} and qualify as an engineer. He settled for HEC, a business school, graduating in 1961 with a Master's degree in management. Contrary to reports, he never studied political science {{efn|HEC has never offered graduate (let alone undergraduate) degrees in Political Science or courses leading to the diplomatic corps.|name=}}, desired a career in diplomacy{{Efn|There is no indication that Szwarc ever considered a career in diplomacy.}} or attended Harvard University.{{efn|In a film interview, Szwarc referred to HEC as the "Froggy equivalent to Harvard" and this may have led to the impression (albeit false) that he had attended the university.}}

At HEC, a work placement in the United States allowed him to discover the country. Szwarc, moreover, created a film society (or ciné-club) at the school which became popular with fellow students. He also directed student avant-garde plays such as Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit. {{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Dennis |title=Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=9780786460915 |pages=598}} After HEC, keen to develop his passion for cinematography and without any formal training (he never attended film school), Szwarc started to produce short commercial films for an advertising company in Paris.{{Cite book |title=L'Ecran fantastique: situation, perspectives, images |publisher=FilmEdition |year=1975 |pages=35}}

Career

In 1962, lured by a career in the film industry, Szwarc abandons the world of advertising after having secured a production assistant role in Stanley Donen's movie Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, which was shooting in Paris.{{Cite book |title=Cinéma: Issues 210–216 |date=1976 |publisher=Fédération française des ciné-clubs |pages=114}} He continues in television as a second unit director and writer-director of short subjects. However, work is limited and hard to find. In 1964, with no connections, against advice from colleagues, Szwarc leaves Paris for Los Angeles in search of opportunities but professional beginnings in Hollywood are difficult.

"It was hell", Szwarc recalls. "I worked odd jobs like writing scripts for a potato chip commercial. I was the guy who puts the laugh on the laugh tracks of a sitcom. After two and a half years of this, I realized that nobody was going to come along and say 'Hey, kid....here's a film to direct'."{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Dennis |title=Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=9780786460915 |pages=598}}

= Developing ''Ironside'' =

In late 1966, while filling a low-level role for Universal, Szwarc submits an internal memo to television producers detailing ideas for new series, one such idea is developed into a 70-page crime drama outline and becomes the framework for the series Ironside (starring Raymond Burr). Szwarc is allowed to make his directorial debut of the show and initial success leads to further assignments .{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Dennis |title=Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=9780786460915 |pages=598}} During the 1970s, he directs episodes of The Rockford Files, Kojak, Night Gallery, Columbo, The 6 Million Dollar Man, and later, It Takes a Thief, Baretta, Ally McBeal, Heroes, The Practice, JAG, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, Castle, Without a Trace as well as dozens of other series.[https://archive.today/20130210121546/http://tv.yahoo.com/person/jeannot-szwarc/biography.html Jeannot Szwarc], Yahoo! TV.

= Directing feature films =

The 1970s and 1980s witness Szwarc oscillate between feature and television films and series. His feature films include Bug (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), Somewhere in Time (1980), Supergirl (1984) Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and Honor Bound. (1988). However, the failure of the last three at the box-office cause him to move to Europe where he directs comedies such as La Vengeance d'une blonde (1994) and Hercule et Sherlock (1996). These films find limited appeal outside national barriers.

= Back to Television Series =

Szwarc is called back to Hollywood in the early 2000s where he resumes his career in television, his forte.[http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Jeannot-Szwarc.html Jeannot Szwarc Biography (1939-)], Film ReferenceIn 2003, he joins the crew of The WB/CW television series Smallville as a director. One of the major episodes he directs is "Homecoming", the 200th episode of the series. Moreover, he co-directs, with Miguel Sapochnik, the fifth and final season premiere of the science-fiction/crime series Fringe as well as multiple other episodes of the series throughout its run.

Honours and Awards

Szwarc won the Best Film of 1981 award for Somewhere in Time (1980) at the Fantafestival, the oldest and most important Italian Film Festival devoted to science fiction, fantasy and horror. In 2008, he was nominated for a Hugo Award (science fiction's most prestigious award) for an episode of Heroes.

Personal life

Szwarc was married to actress Maud Strand, who starred in Somewhere in Time (1980).{{Cite book |last=Shepard |first=Bill |title=The Somewhere in Time Story |publisher=Insite Publications |year=1994 |isbn=9780964169807 |pages=49}} He subsequently divorced and married Cara de Menaul, a film production coordinator, with whom he had two sons, Sacha Szwarc and Stefan Szwarc. Both siblings work in the film industry.{{Cite web |last=Dick |first=Jeremy |title=Jeannot Szwarc, Jaws 2 and Supergirl Director, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.cbr.com/jaws-2-director-dead/#:~:text=Szwarc's%20survivors%20include%20his%20wife,Source:%20The%20Hollywood%20Reporter |website=www.cbr.com|date=18 January 2025 }}

Death

Szwarc died from respiratory failure at Centre Hospitalier de Loches, near Tours, France, on 14 January 2025, at the age of 87.{{Cite news |last1=Vlessing |first1=Etan |last2=Barnes |first2=Mike |date=January 17, 2025 |title=Jeannot Szwarc, Director of Somewhere in Time and Jaws 2, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jeannot-szwarc-dead-jaws-2-somewhere-in-time-1236110782/ |access-date=January 17, 2025 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}