Producer of Dog Day Afternoon

Background:

American movie producer who entered show biz as a personal manager for artists like Barbra Streisand and Woody Allen Martin Bregman became famous during the 1970s and 1980s for his collaborations with star Al Pacino as well as actor/director/writer Alan Alda. Bregman received an Oscar nomination and a David di Donatello Award for “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), his second project with Al Pacino and director Sidney Lumet after 1973's “Serpico.” He continued to work with celebrated actor in “Scarface” (1983), “Sea of Love” (1989) and “Carlito's Way” (1993). Bregman and Alan Alda worked together in such vehicles as “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” (1979), “The Four Seasons” (1981), “Sweet Liberty” (1986), “A New Life” (1988) and “Betsy's Wedding” (1990). The producer's more recent credits include “The Real McCoy” (1993), “Matilda” (1996), “Nothing to Lose” (1997), “The Bone Collector” (1999), “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” (2002) and “Carolina” (2003).

In 1974, Bregman co-founded the New York Advisory Council for Motion Pictures, Radio and Television. He now serves as chairman.

New Yorker

Childhood and Family:

Martin Bregman was born on May 18, 1931, in New York, New York. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and New York University in New York. He married Cornelia Sharpe.

The Four Seasons

Career:

Martin Bregman began his professional career as a business and personal manager for a number of leading performers, including Woody Allen , Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Michael Douglas and Faye Dunaway. It was not until 1973 that the native son of New York launched his career as a movie producer. Bregman produced “Serpico,” a crime/drama directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino. It was a massive success with both critics and audiences.

After the auspicious debut, Bregman reunited with Lumet and Al Pacino in “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), which enjoyed even more critical and commercial success than its predecessor. For his effort, Bregman even co-earn an Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Picture and a David di Donatello Award.

Next up for Bregman, he produced the action/thriller “The Next Man” (1976), starring Sean Connery and helmed by Richard C. Sarafian, and Jerry Schatzberg's drama, “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” (1979), penned by and starring Alan Alda. The latter marked his first partnership with the actor-screenwriter. Following the action/adventure “S+H+E: Security Hazards Expert” and Marshall Brickman's comedy, “Simon” (both 1980), Bregman lent his producing talent for Alan Alda's feature directorial debut, “The Four Seasons” (1981), and in 1984, they rejoined to executive produce a sitcom for CBS based on their well-liked picture. The “The Four Seasons” series, however, only had a short life.

Meanwhile, Bregman oversaw the horror/thriller “Venom” (1981) for director Piers Haggard, and the based-on-novel “Eddie Macon's Run” (1983), starring Kirk Douglas. He also worked with director Brian De Palma in “Scarface” (1983), another flourishing film which starred Al Pacino.

After the failure of his first TV series, Bregman again worked with Alan Alda in the comedies “Sweet Liberty” (1986), “A New Life” (1988) and “Betsy's Wedding” (1990), all of which starred, directed and penned by Alda and produced by Bregman. Besides, Bregman served as the producer of Dennis Feldman's “Real Men” (1987), which starred James Belushi and John Ritter, and the Harold Becker-directed “Sea of Love” (1989), a comeback vehicle of Al Pacino.

In 1992, Bregman founded M&M Productions with Michael Caine. Also in that same year, he produced Christopher Crowe's thriller “Whispers in the Dark” and the action/thriller “Blue Ice,” which starred his producing partner Caine. Subsequent projects were the Kim Basinger/Val Kilmer vehicle “The Real McCoy” (1993), “Carlito's Way” (1993), a challenging mobster movie which reunited him with director Brian DePalma and star Al Pacino, “The Shadow” (1994), Kevin James Dobson's “Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain” (1995, starred Christina Ricci and Anna Chlumsky), Danny DeVito's “Matilda” (1996), “Nothing to Lose” (1997, starred Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins), “One Tough Cop” (1998, starred Stephen Baldwin and Chris Penn) and “The Bone Collector” (1999, starred Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie).

Bregman revisited the cinematic industry after a short-term hiatus with “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” a 2002 comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Ron Underwood. The film was considered a box office disappointment. In the following year, he produced “Carolina,” a comedy/romance starring Julia Stiles which was released in America in 2004 after being seen in such countries as Russia, Spain and Australia. In 2005, Bregman produced Michael Bregman's “Carlito's Way: Rise to Power,” which went straight to video release.

Awards:

• David di Donatello: Special David, “Dog Day Afternoon,” 1976