Pandro S. Berman(1905-1996)
- Producer
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pandro S. Berman was born into the film industry. His father, Harry,
was distributor and exhibitor of films. Pandro also had a number of
relatives in the film industry. When he started working in the 1920's
he started as a script clerk and then rose to film editor. By 1931, the
26 year old Berman was an assistant director at RKO when Selznick took
over the floundering studio. Selznick fired many people at RKO, but he
saw something in Berman and made him his assistant. Pandro was a
success and brought to the screen many stars and great films. It was he
who paired Rogers with Astaire; and made Katherine Hepburn a star. He
was considered to be the Irving Thalberg of RKO and produced many
prestige pictures over the years. In 1940, after a power struggle, he
moved to Culver City and MGM where he continued to produce well
received movies. He survived many of the purges and finally left MGM
for independant work in 1963. His final film was 'MOVE' made in 1970.
In 1977, he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the
Academy Awards.
