Lawrence Turman

Lawrence Turman
Lawrence Turman
	Turman in 2005
Born	November 28, 1926; Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 1, 2023 (aged 96); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1961–2001
Known for	Director of The Peter Stark Producing Program
Spouses	; Suzanne Rita Trieb (m. 1958; div. 1974) ; Margaret Buckley (m. 1976, divorced)
Children	3

Lawrence Turman (November 28, 1926 – July 1, 2023) was an American film producer. He was best known for serving as a producer of The Graduate (1967, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.)

Early life

Turman was born in Los Angeles, California on November 28, 1926, into a Jewish family.^[1] His father was Jacob Turman and his mother Esther Gldman Turman.^[2] Turman served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.^[3]

Career

Turman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture as producer of The Graduate (1967).^[4]^[5] He also produced other films such as Pretty Poison (1968), The Great White Hope (1970), The Thing (1982),^[6] Mass Appeal (1984), Short Circuit (1986), The River Wild (1994), and American History X (1998).^[7]

Turman also directed two films: The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) and Second Thoughts (1983).^[7]

Turman was co-partner on The Turman/Foster Company with David Foster, which was established in 1972, to make theatrical films, which was increasingly prominent in television production, in order to eye on television movies, and planned work on series, and eyeing television sales, and the company ran under contract to Warner Bros., developing their failed television pilots, like Mass Appeal.^[8]

Turman was a member of the Producers Guild Hall of Fame.^[9] He served as the director of The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.^[7]

Turman published the book So You Want to be a Producer in 2005.^[10]

In 2014, he appeared as a guest critic on the fourth season of the web series On Cinema. In 2015, he appeared as himself in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary Trojan War.^[11]

Death

Turman died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles on July 1, 2023, at the age of 96.^[9]

Filmography

He was producer for all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit	Notes	Ref.
1961	The Young Doctors
1963	I Could Go On Singing
1963	Stolen Hours	Executive producer
1964	The Best Man
1967	The Flim-Flam Man
1967	The Graduate
1968	Pretty Poison	Executive producer
1970	The Great White Hope
1971	The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
1974	The Nickel Ride	Executive producer
1975	The Drowning Pool
1977	First Love
1977	Heroes
1979	Walk Proud
1981	Caveman
1982	The Thing			^[6]
1983	Second Thoughts
1984	Mass Appeal
1985	The Mean Season
1986	Short Circuit
1986	Running Scared
1988	Short Circuit 2
1988	Full Moon in Blue Water
1989	Gleaming the Cube
1994	The Getaway
1994	The River Wild
1997	Booty Call	Executive producer
1998	American History X	Executive producer
2001	Kingdom Come	Executive producer
2001	What's the Worst That Could Happen?
2011	The Thing	Executive producer	Final film as a producer

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Film	Role
1963	I Could Go On Singing	Presenter
1964	The Best Man
1980	Tribute

As director

Year	Film
1971	The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
1983	Second Thoughts

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
1969	The Flim-Flam Man	Executive producer	Television pilot
1973	She Lives!	Executive producer	Television film
1974	Get Christie Love!	Executive producer	Television film
	The Morning After	Executive producer	Television film
	Unwed Father	Executive producer	Television film
1982	Between Two Brothers	Executive producer	Television film
1982	The Gift of Life	Executive producer	Television film
1986	News at Eleven	Executive producer	Television film
1996	Pretty Poison	Executive producer	Television film
1998	The Long Way Home	Executive producer	Television film
2000	Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story	Executive producer	Television film