Biography

Bert was known for standing up for what he believed in, personally and professionally, no matter what the cost may be. When he won the Oscar for Best Documentary, instead of a speech he read a telegram from the Vietnamese ambassador from the peace talks in Paris. There was a lot of anger from the old guard, including Bob Hope. Tensions were so high a fist fight almost ensued. When making The Last Picture Show, he fought for the film to be in black and white and threatened to not produce the movie unless they agreed. During the shooting of Days of Heaven, directed by Terrance Malick, there was a lot of money and time wasted due to the fact that Mr. Malick insisted that quite a few scenes could only be shot at twilight, the magic hour, wasting a lot of time and money. Bert believed so strongly in his talent that he allowed this to continue until Mr. Malick was satisfied with what he had shot After Bert was able to transport Huey Newton, who was wanted for a murder he did not commit, to a small fishing village in Mexico, Yelapa, where he had a compound. He outfitted a boat with all the equipment to ensure Mr Newton would be able to get from there to Cuba safely. They had hired someone's brother who they could trust to be the captain. The first time he took the boat out after its upgrade, he had apparently smoked a little to much marijuana. The boat struck an underwater statue of Jesus and sunk.

His father walked out of a screening of Easy Rider and forbade his mother to watch it

Bert was known among his friends as a kind and altruistic person who spent much of his fortune supporting causes he believed in and always helping out people in need, both friends and strangers
- IMDb mini biography by: Wendell Calton, wife #4

[on his film 'Hearts and Minds", which is highly critical of America's role in the Vietnam war] It shouldn't be considered a documentary. It should be considered a disaster epic, for that's what it surely is.