Lloyd Kaufman | |
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Kaufman at the screening of Poultrygeist
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Born |
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Jr. December 30, 1945 New York City, New York, United States |
Occupation | Director, producer, screenwriter, actor |
Years active | 1969–present |
Spouse(s) | Pat Swinney Kaufman (1974–present; 3 daughters) |
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet.
Kaufman was born in New York City, New York, the son of Ruth (née Fried) and Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Sr. a lawyer.
Kaufman graduated from Yale University with the class of 1968, where he majored in Chinese studies. His fellow Yale classmates included Oliver Stone and George W. Bush. Originally intending to become a social worker, he became fast friends with student filmmaker Robert Edelstein and Eric Sherman (son of filmmaker Vincent Sherman), who introduced him to his future lifelong obsession, cinema. Some of Lloyd's favorite filmmakers include John Ford, Kenji Mizoguchi, Ernst Lubitsch, Stan Brakhage and Franklin Schaffner. Like the members of Monty Python troupe, who were a big influence on him, Kaufman read Punch magazine and enjoyed the theatrical performances of Beyond the Fringe, Flanders & Swann, etc.