Marvin Worth

{{Infobox person

| name = Marvin Worth

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|6|6|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|4|22|1925|6|6|mf=y}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California

| othername = Film producer, screenwriter, actor

| occupation =

| years_active =

| spouse = Joan Worth (ca. 1954 – April 22, 1998)

}}

Marvin Worth (June 6, 1925 – April 22, 1998) was an American film producer, screenwriter and actor. His efforts to bring the biography of Malcolm X to the big screen started in 1967, when he purchased the rights to The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and eventually led to the production of the 1972 documentary, for which he received an Oscar nomination. Later on, he would produce Malcolm X, with director Spike Lee. He was nominated for an Oscar for producing Lenny in 1974.

Early life and career

Worth's career began at a very early age when he began promoting jazz concerts, which led to relationship with many artists. At one time, he managed the musical careers of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. Later, Worth's employment as an agent branched into comedy, and he took on contentious comedian Lenny Bruce. In the 1950s, he forged a partnership with Arne Sultan and began writing material for Bruce. The duo went on to pen the scripts for Three on a Couch and Boys' Night Out and the story for Promise Her Anything. In 1958, Worth won a Peabody Award for his writing on The Steve Allen Show.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-apr-24-mn-42635-story.html|title=Marvin Worth; Producer of 'Lenny,' 'Malcolm X'|last=Oliver|first=Myrna |date=April 24, 1998|newspaper=The L.A. Times|access-date=February 9, 2009}}

In 1971, Worth brought the story of Lenny Bruce to Broadway in the production Lenny, which won a Tony Award for its star, Cliff Gorman.(Internet Broadway Database) {{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/cliff-gorman-642883.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502165029/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/cliff-gorman-642883.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 2, 2009|title=Cliff Gorman: Dynamic star of 'Lenny' and 'The Boys in the Band'|date=September 16, 2002|newspaper=independent.co.uk|accessdate=February 9, 2009}} In 1974 the movie version of Lenny directed by Bob Fosse was released and received multiple Academy Award nominations. For the remainder of his career, Worth continued to produce biopics including the 1979 film The Rose (loosely based on Janis Joplin), the 1996 television movie Norma Jean & Marilyn, the 1998 television movie Gia, and the 2001 television movie James Dean.

Personal life and death

Worth was married to his wife Joan, an artist, for 44 years. They had three children.{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/12/31/joan_worth_72_theatrical_writer_producer/|title=Joan Worth, 72; theatrical writer-producer|last=McLellan|first=Dennis |date=December 31, 2006|publisher=boston.com|accessdate=February 9, 2009}} On April 22, 1998, Worth died of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, a form of lung cancer, in Los Angeles.{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1437/is_199804/ai_n5949075|title=Marvin Worth (Writer/producer, age 72)|last=Galloway|first=Doug|date=April 1998|publisher=findarticles.com|accessdate=February 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812225155/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1437/is_199804/ai_n5949075/|archive-date=August 12, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

Selected filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

=Film=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
1970	Where's Poppa?
1974	Lenny
1977	Fire Sale
1979	The Rose
1980	Up the Academy
1982	Soup for One
rowspan=3\| 1984	Unfaithfully Yours
Rhinestone
Falling in Love
1987	Less than Zero	{{center\|Uncredited}}
1988	Patty Hearst
1989	See No Evil, Hear No Evil
1990	Flashback
1992	Malcolm X
1996	Diabolique	Final film as a producer

;As an actor

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role

1977

Fire Sale

Milton

;As writer

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
1962	Boys' Night Out
1965	Promise Her Anything
1966	Three on a Couch
1979	The Rose	{{center\|Uncredited}}
1989	See No Evil, Hear No Evil

;Miscellaneous crew

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role

1984

Rhinestone

Presenter

=Television=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Other notes
1966	Vacation Playhouse
1971	The Sheriff	Executive producer		Television film
1979	Where's Poppa?	Executive producer		Television pilot
1992	Running Mates			Television film
1996	Norma Jean & Marilyn	Executive producer		Television film
rowspan=2\| 1998	Gia	Executive producer		Television film
Criminal Law			Television film
2001	James Dean	Executive producer	{{center\|Uncredited}}	Television film

;As writer

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
rowspan=2\| 1956	Stanley
Washington Square
rowspan=2\| 1957	The Polly Bergen Show
General Motors 50th Anniversary Show	Television special
1958	The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1959−60	The Steve Allen Show
1960	The Chevy Show
1961	The New Steve Allen Show
1962	The Steve Allen Playhouse
1963−64	The Judy Garland Show
1965	Get Smart
1966	The Milton Berle Show

;Script and continuity department

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title

1963

The Judy Garland Show

;Thanks

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes

1993

But... Seriously

Thanks

Documentary

Award nominations

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
Year ! Award ! Result ! Category ! Film or series
1973 \| rowspan=2\|Academy Award \| rowspan=4\|Nominated \| Best Documentary, Features \| Malcolm X (Shared with Arnold Perl)
1975 \| Best Picture \| Lenny
1998 \| Emmy Award \| Outstanding Made for Television Movie \| Gia (Shared with James D. Brubaker, David R. Ginsburg, and Ilene Kahn)
1985 \| Golden Raspberry Award \| Worst Picture \| Rhinestone (Shared with Howard Smith)

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"

Year

! Award

! Result

! Category

! Film or series

1973

| rowspan=2|Academy Award

| rowspan=4|Nominated

| Best Documentary, Features

| Malcolm X (Shared with Arnold Perl)

1975