Oscar-nominated producer Lawrence Turman dies: Looking at his prolific career
Lawrence Turman, the maverick producer behind movies like Oscar-winning The Graduate, died on Saturday. He was 96. With a career spanning over five decades, Turman—apart from making significant contributions to Hollywood—also served as the director of USC's Peter Stark Producing program from 1991 until his retirement in 2021, at 94. In light of Turman's demise, we take a look back at his prolific career.
Early life and humble beginnings
Born in Los Angeles in 1926, Turman completed his graduation from the University of California and entered into the industry after answering an advertisement in Variety to work at the Kurt Frings agency. As an agent, Turman represented actors, and after meeting Alfred Hitchcock through screenwriter Ernest Lehman, Turman was able to book his agency's clients in Hitchcock's 1959 film, North By Northwest.
Turman's career as a producer
Soon after being an agent, Turman moved into producing, working on projects including Judy Garland's last film I Could Go On Singing (1963), The Great White Hope (1970), and Pretty Poison (1968). After finding Charles Webb's book The Graduate, Turman worked on finding composers Simon and Garfunkel and the young director Mike Nichols. This film, notably, was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture.
Turman and producer David Foster's 20-year partnership
In 1974, Turman and producer David Foster ventured into a partnership and formed the Turman-Foster Company. The first film to come out of this company was Stuart Rosenberg's The Drowning Pool (1975). In their 20-year successful partnership, they went on to produce projects like Heroes, Caveman, The Thing, Running Scared, and The River Wild. They went their separate ways in 1991.
Timeline of Turman's career in the 2000s
After parting ways with Foster, in 1966, Turman launched the Turman-Morrissey Co. in collaboration with John Morrissey, which made the Jamie Foxx-led Booty Call (1997); Tony Kaye's American History X (1998); and the LL Cool J comedy Kingdom Come (2001). Notably, Turman also directed two features in his career, namely the 1971's The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker and Second Thoughts released in 1983.
