William Kronick | |
|---|---|
 Kronick on location with Richard Burton during the filming of To the Ends of the Earth. | |
| Born | Amsterdam, New York, US |
| Education | Columbia University |
| Occupations |
|
William Kronick (born 1934) is an American film and television writer, director and producer. He worked in the film industry from 1960 to 2000, when he segued into writing novels.
Born to European emigrants, William Kronick [1] [2] grew up in Amsterdam, New York. He attended Columbia College where he was active in the Columbia Players’ stage productions. He also helped form The Gilbert and Sullivan Society at Barnard College.
After graduation Kronick was drafted into the U.S. Navy where he became a Photographer's Mate. During a North Atlantic exercise in Stockholm, Sweden Kronick met film and theater director Alf Sjoberg [3] who arranged for Kronick, once out of the Navy, to apprentice with Ingmar Bergman on his next film The Magician . [4]
Returning to New York Kronick found a job as Production Assistant with Louis de Rochemont Associates. [5] So began his professional career in motion pictures.
Kronick's first film was a twenty-four-minute comedy, A Bowl of Cherries. [6] The film, which played in a thousand art theaters in the U.S. and Europe, was seen by TV documentary producer, David L. Wolper. [7] He offered Kronick the producing/directing/writing position on a new reality series, Story of….
During his long career, Kronick would make some of the highest-rated Network Specials, [8] including Alaska! (National Geographic), Plimpton! and Mysteries of the Great Pyramid. [9] [10] He directed The Five-Hundred Pound Jerk, a popular Movie-of-the-Week.
His first feature, independently financed, was A Likely Story [11] (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) filmed entirely in Ireland. It featured Harvey Lembeck, Al Lettieri and Sinéad Cusack. Kronick also did long-term stints as Second Unit Director on features such as King Kong [12] (1976) and Flash Gordon [13] (1980), on which he was responsible for many action and special effects sequences.
Another major film project was the feature-length documentary To The Ends Of The Earth, [14] which recorded the unique three-year expedition of three Englishmen who set out to circumnavigate the globe, crossing both the South and North Poles without leaving the surface of the earth. Known as the Transglobe Expedition, Prince Charles was its patron with Richard Burton narrating and hosting the film. [15] Kronick received a Special Certificate of Merit from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for this film.
He continued to produce, write and direct Network and Cable specials until 2000, when he turned to writing novels. To date he has completed six contemporary morality tales dealing mainly with film and theater. [16]
He has been married and divorced twice and has a son, Max. Kronick resides in Los Angeles.
Directing Credits
| Year | Show [17] [18] [19] |
|---|---|
| 1999 | The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper |
| 1991 | The Journey Back: Professionals Recover From Addiction |
| 1988 | The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen |
| 1987 | The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson |
| 1983 | To the Ends of the Earth |
| 1983 | Ripley's Believe It Or Not! |
| 1980 | Flash Gordon (Second Unit Director) |
| 1977 | Mysteries of the Great Pyramid |
| 1976 | King Kong (Second Unit Director) |
| 1973 | A Likely Story (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) |
| 1973 | The 500 Pound Jerk |
| 1970-72 | Plimpton! Specials |
| 1970 | Flap (Second Unit Director) |
| 1969 | The Bridge at Remagen (Second Unit Director) |
| 1967 | National Geographic Special: Alaska! |
| 1965 | Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 |
| 1965 | Race for the Moon |
| 1964 | Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict |
| 1964 | Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana |
| 1962-63 | Story Of... |
| 1961 | A Bowl of Cherries |
Writing Credits
| Year | Show [17] [18] [19] |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Celebrate the Century |
| 1999 | The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper |
| 1991 | The Journey Back: Professionals Recover From Addiction |
| 1988 | The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen |
| 1987 | Nights in White Satin |
| 1987 | The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson |
| 1981 | Great Movie Stunts: Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| 1977 | Mysteries of the Great Pyramid |
| 1973 | A Likely Story (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) |
| 1970-72 | Plimpton! Specials |
| 1967 | National Geographic Special: Alaska! |
| 1965 | Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 |
| 1965 | Race for the Moon |
| 1964 | Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict |
| 1964 | Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana |
| 1962-63 | Story Of... |
| 1961 | A Bowl of Cherries |
Producing Credits
| Year | Show [17] [18] [19] |
|---|---|
| 1997-2000 | Undercover History |
| 1999 | The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper |
| 1995-98 | Mysteries of the Bible |
| 1988 | The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen |
| 1987 | Biography |
| 1987 | Playboy: Bedtime Stories |
| 1987 | The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson |
| 1981 | Small World |
| 1978-79 | In Search of... |
| 1977 | Mysteries of the Great Pyramid |
| 1970-72 | Plimpton! Specials |
| 1967 | National Geographic Special: Alaska! |
| 1965 | Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 |
| 1965 | Race for the Moon |
| 1964 | Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict |
| 1964 | Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana |
| 1962-63 | Story Of... |
| Year | Title [16] |
|---|---|
| 2015 | What Katie Said |
| 2011 | The Art of Self-Deception |
| 2008 | All Stars Die |
| 2006 | N.Y./L.A. |
| 2005 | Cooley Wyatt |
| 2004 | The Cry of Sirens |
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul". Some of his most acclaimed works include The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966) and Fanny and Alexander (1982), which were included in the 2012 edition of Sight & Sound's Greatest Films of All Time. He was also ranked No. 8 on the magazine's 2002 "Greatest Directors of All Time" list.
Wild Strawberries is a 1957 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The original Swedish title is Smultronstället, which literally means "the wild strawberry patch" but idiomatically signifies a hidden gem of a place, often with personal or sentimental value, and not widely known. The cast includes Victor Sjöström in his final screen performance as an old man recalling his past, as well as Bergman regulars Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, and Gunnar Björnstrand. Max von Sydow also appears in a small role.
Ingrid Lilian Thulin was a Swedish actress and director who collaborated with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She was often cast as harrowing and desperate characters, and earned acclaim from both Swedish and international critics. She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in Brink of Life (1958) and the inaugural Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Silence (1963), and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for Cries and Whispers (1972).
Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for Torment, and in 1951 for his film Miss Julie.
Fanny and Alexander is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Following the death of the children's father, their mother remarries a prominent bishop who becomes abusive towards Alexander for his vivid imagination.
Paper Lion is a 1966 non-fiction book by American author George Plimpton.
Peter Cowie is a British film historian and author of more than thirty books on film. In 1963 he was the founder/publisher and general editor of the annual International Film Guide, a survey of worldwide film production, which he continued to edit for forty years.
The March of Time is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO). The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Produced and written by Louis de Rochemont and his brother Richard de Rochemont, The March of Time was recognized with an Academy Honorary Award in 1937.
Sven Vilhem Nykvist was a Swedish cinematographer and filmmaker. His work is generally noted for its naturalism and simplicity. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all time. He is best known for his collaboration with director Ingmar Bergman. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Cries and Whispers (1972) and Fanny and Alexander (1982). Nykvist also worked with Bergman on The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1963), Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1973), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Face to Face (1978), and Autumn Sonata (1978).
Hour of the Wolf is a 1968 Swedish psychological horror film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. The story explores the disappearance of fictional painter Johan Borg, who lived on an island with his wife Alma (Ullmann) while plagued with frightening visions and insomnia.
Through a Glass Darkly is a 1961 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow and Lars Passgård. The film tells the story of a schizophrenic young woman (Andersson) vacationing on a remote island with her husband, novelist father (Björnstrand), and frustrated younger brother (Passgård).
Mel Stuart was an American film director and producer who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, at whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance.
Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie is a 1963 Swedish documentary film directed by Vilgot Sjöman which depicts the making of Ingmar Bergman's film Winter Light from screenwriting to the film's premiere and critical reaction.
The Best Intentions is a 1991 Swedish television drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical, telling the story of the complex relationship between Bergman's parents, Erik Bergman and Karin Åkerblom, who are renamed Henrik and Anna in the film but retain their true surnames. The film documents the courtship and the difficult early years of their marriage, until the point when Anna becomes pregnant with their second son, who corresponds to Ingmar himself. Samuel Fröler and Pernilla August played Henrik and Anna, respectively.
Lena Endre is a Swedish actress of film and television, primarily in the Swedish and Norwegian markets, known for her parts in the Liv Ullmann film Trolösa (2000), and the Millennium series of films, based on the eponymous trio of Stieg Larsson books. Endre made her English-language debut in 2012, in Paul Thomas Anderson's movie The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Torment is a 1944 Swedish film, directed by Alf Sjöberg from a screenplay by Ingmar Bergman. The film, a tale of sex, passion and murder, was originally released as Frenzy in the United Kingdom, although later releases have used the US title. The film won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.
Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish screenwriter and film director. Between 1944 and 2003 he directed 48 feature-length films as well as many short films. He also served as writer and producer for many other films.
The 8th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 27 June to 8 July 1958 with the Zoo Palast as the main venue. The festival was opened by then West Berlin's newly elected mayor Willy Brandt. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Swedish film Smultronstället directed by Ingmar Bergman.
Herman "Erik" Nordgren was a Swedish composer, arranger and bandleader.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
