David L. Wolper | |
---|---|
Born |
David Lloyd Wolper January 11, 1928 New York, New York, U.S. |
Died | August 10, 2010 Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
(aged 82)
Occupation | television and film Producer |
Spouse(s) | Toni Carroll (1953–1955; divorced) Margaret Dawn Richard (1958–1969; divorced; 3 children) Gloria Diane Hill (1974–2010; his death) |
David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He also produced numerous documentaries and documentary series including Biography (1961–63), The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (TV), Appointment with Destiny (TV series), This is Elvis, Four Days in November, Imagine: John Lennon, Visions of Eight (1973), and others. Wolper directed the 1959 documentary The Race for Space, which was nominated for an Academy Award. His 1971 film (as executive producer) about the study of insects, The Hellstrom Chronicle, won an Academy Award.
Wolper was born in New York City, the son of Anna (née Fass) and Irving S. Wolper. For his work on television, he had received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The pre-1968 library is owned by Cube Entertainment (formerly International Creative Exchange), the post-1970 library is owned by Warner Bros.
On March 13, 1974, one of his crews filming a National Geographic history of Australopithecus at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was killed when their Sierra Pacific Airlines Corvair 440 slammed into the White Mountains shortly after takeoff from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, killing all 35 on board, including 31 Wolper crew members. The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast in the television series Primal Man. The cause of the crash remains unsolved.