Howard Rosenman | |
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Born |
Brooklyn, New York |
February 1, 1945
Occupation | Producer |
Howard Rosenman (born February 1, 1945), also known as Zvi Howard Rosenman, is an American producer and motion picture executive. He specializes in producing romantic comedy films and documentary films. Some of his most popular productions include Father of the Bride (1991) starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and The Family Man (2000) starring Nicolas Cage. Rosenman's documentary film Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt won the Peabody Award and the 1990 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; his film The Celluloid Closet also won the Peabody Award.
Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, the son of Sima (née Rosenfeld) and Morris Joseph Rosenman,Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Palestine whose families had lived in the Old City of Jerusalem and Mea Shearim for seven generations, but emigrated to the United States in the wake of Arab pogroms. Rosenman graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in European Literature in 1965. In 1967, he took a leave from medical school at Hahnemann Medical College to serve as an extern medic in the Six Day War as a part of the Israeli Defense Forces. After the war, he met his mentor, the composer Leonard Bernstein, who encouraged him to leave medical school after two years and begin his career in show business. Rosenman's first job was on Broadway assisting Katharine Hepburn in the André Previn musical Coco in 1969. Also, on Broadway, he assisted the director, Sir Michael Benthall (former head of Britain's National Theatre/Old Vic), on I'm Solomon and Her First Roman. He then became a producer of commercials for the ad agency Benton & Bowles, winning two Clio Awards on campaigns for Cool Whip and Almond Joy.