Sandor Stern

Last updated
Sandor Stern
Born (1936-07-13) July 13, 1936 (age 87)
Timmins, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Writer, director, producer
Spousedivorced
Children4

Sandor Stern (born July 13, 1936) is a Canadian writer, director and film producer best known for his horror films. [1] [2]

Contents

Personal life

Born in the northern Canadian town of Timmins, Ontario; raised in the small town of Prescott, Ontario, on the St. Lawrence River; Sandor Stern was drawn to short story writing while in high school and began writing stage plays while attending the University of Toronto. Though he planned to obtain a degree in teaching, a physician-uncle suggested that medicine might offer more involving experiences for an aspiring writer. Heeding that advice, Stern enrolled in Medical School at the University of Toronto. During his schooling, he continued to write, switching to TV scripts, and selling his first script to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation prior to his graduation in 1961. [3] Three of his four sons formed the successful Los Angeles hardcore punk band Youth Brigade, and its almost 30-year-old record label Better Youth Organization. [4]

Career

Setting up a private practice in Toronto, Stern continued to write; adding songwriting and variety sketch writing to his credits. Over the next five years, he wrote numerous shows for the CBC until demand for his work allowed him to give up the practice of medicine and devote full time to writing. He wrote the CTV network's first drama Rumble of Silence (1968) and created the CBC network's medical series Corwin (1969). Deciding to try his luck in Hollywood, Stern arrived in LA and immediately landed an assignment to write an episode of NBC's The Bold Ones . He quickly moved on to other episodic dramas such as Ironside (1969) and onto producing with The Mod Squad (1971) and Doc Elliot (1973). His TV movie producing began in 1974 with The Strange and Deadly Occurrence. In 1979, The Seeding of Sarah Burns was his first directing assignment. He created the short-lived 1983 CBS TV series Cutter to Houston . Since then he has written and/or directed more than 35 movies, including the screenplays for three feature films: The Amityville Horror (1979), [5] Fast Break (1979) [6] (winner of the 1979 NAACP Image Award for best screenplay) and Pin (which he also directed). [7] [8] [9] [10] Stern was divorced from wife, Marlene, in 1975 and from wife, Kandy, in 2018. He is presently single. His recent credits include co-writing the Lifetime cable movie You Belong To Me (2007) His first novel, The Life and Adventures of Ralph, The Cat was published in 2008. His short story, "My Grandfather Clock" was published in the anthology, "Canadian Voices" in 2009. His anthology of short stories, "The Karma Chronicles" was published in 2010. In 2023 he published the novel "Material Witness".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Barker</span> English author, film director and visual artist

Clive Barker is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series. He was also an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George A. Romero</span> American filmmaker, writer, and editor (1940–2017)

George Andrew Romero was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His Night of the Living Dead series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and is considered a major contributor to the image of the zombie in modern culture. Other films in the series include Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Aside from this series, his works include The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Monkey Shines (1988), The Dark Half (1993), and Bruiser (2000). He also created and executive-produced the television series Tales from the Darkside from 1983 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Pill</span> Canadian actress (born 1985)

Alison Pill is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous films and television series. She transitioned to adult roles and her breakthrough came with the television series The Book of Daniel (2006). That same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Coscarelli</span> American screenwriter

Don Coscarelli Jr. is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born to Italian settlers in Libya, he is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the Phantasm franchise, as well as The Beastmaster (1982) and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Darabont</span> American filmmaker

Frank Árpád Darabont is a French-born American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a screenwriter for such horror films as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), The Blob (1988) and The Fly II (1989). As a director, he is known for his film adaptations of Stephen King novellas and novels, such as The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), and The Mist (2007).

Benjamin Robert Clark was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film history such as Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Decree (1979), Tribute (1980), Porky's (1981), and A Christmas Story (1983). He won three Genie Awards with two additional nominations.

<i>The Amityville Horror</i> 1977 book by Jay Anson

The Amityville Horror is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, but has led to controversy and lawsuits over its truthfulness.

<i>Danse Macabre</i> (book) Book about horror fiction by Stephen King

Danse Macabre is a 1981 non-fiction book by Stephen King, about horror fiction in print, TV, radio, film and comics, and the influence of contemporary societal fears and anxieties on the genre. It was republished on February 23, 2010, with an additional new essay entitled "What's Scary".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald DeFeo Jr.</span> American mass murderer (1951–2021)

Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, New York. Condemned to six sentences of 25 years to life, DeFeo died in prison on March 12, 2021. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror.

<i>The Amityville Horror</i> (2005 film) 2005 horror film by Andrew Douglas

The Amityville Horror is a 2005 American supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Douglas and starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Philip Baker Hall. It also featured the debut of actress Chloe Grace Moretz. Written by Scott Kosar, it is based on the novel The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which was previously adapted into the 1979 film of the same name, while also serving as the ninth film in the Amityville Horror film series, which documents the experiences of the Lutz family after they move into a house at 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island. In 1974, real-life mass murderer Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family at the same house in Amityville, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed and Lorraine Warren</span> American paranormal investigators

Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Rita Warren were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer. Lorraine professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Dougherty</span> American director, screenwriter, and producer

Michael Patrick Dougherty is an American writer, director, animator, and producer known for his work in a variety of genre films, both big and small. Beginning his career as an animator and illustrator, Dougherty’s animated work was featured on MTV, Nickelodeon, and a line of twisted greeting cards published by NobleWorks. He then co-wrote the blockbusters X-Men 2 and Superman Returns before making his directorial debut with the classic horror comedy, Trick ‘r Treat (2009), starring Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, and Brian Cox. Trick ‘r Treat has since become a perennial favorite that has spawned a growing line of toys, comics, theme park attractions, and Halloween decor, and a sequel is in development with Legendary Pictures. Dougherty later set his sights on Christmas, which resulted in Krampus (2015), a holiday horror comedy starring Toni Collette, Adam Scott, David Koechner, and Allison Tolman. Much like Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus has become an annual holiday classic. Most recently, Dougherty co-wrote and directed the blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) starring Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, and Ken Watanabe, and co-wrote the story for its sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), starring Brian Tyree Henry, Rebecca Hall, and Alexander Skaarsgaard. Collectively, Dougherty's work has grossed over 2 billion dollars at the box office.

<i>The Amityville Horror</i> (1979 film) 1979 film

The Amityville Horror is a 1979 American supernatural horror film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, and Rod Steiger. The film follows a young couple who purchase a home haunted by combative supernatural forces. It is based on Jay Anson's 1977 book of the same name, which documented the alleged paranormal experiences of the Lutz family who briefly resided in the Amityville, New York home where convicted killer Ronald DeFeo Jr. committed the mass murder of his family in 1974. It is the first entry in the long-running Amityville Horror film series, and was remade in 2005.

<i>Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes</i> 1989 television film directed by Sandor Stern

Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes is a 1989 American made-for-television supernatural horror film written and directed by Sandor Stern, and starring Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt and Fredric Lehne. The fourth film based on The Amityville Horror, it premiered on NBC on May 12, 1989. This was the only Amityville sequel to be based on a book in the main book series. Amityville: The Horror Returns was to air on NBC but the film was never made. The film is set between after the events of The Amityville Horror (1979), and Amityville II: The Possession (1982) and before the events of Amityville 3-D (1983).

The Amityville haunting is a modern folk story based on the true crimes of Ronald DeFeo Jr. On November 13, 1974, DeFeo shot and killed six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island. He was convicted of second-degree murder in November 1975. In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into the house. After 28 days, the Lutzes left the house, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena while living there. The house became subject of numerous investigations by paranormal researchers, journalists, and skeptics including Ed and Lorraine Warren. These events served as the historical basis for Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror, which was followed by a number of sequels and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1979. Since then, many films have been produced that draw explicitly, to a greater or lesser extent, from these historical and literary sources. As Amityville is a real town and the stories of DeFeo and the Lutzes are historical, there can be no proprietary relationship to the underlying story elements associated with the Amityville haunting. As a result of this, there has been no restriction on the exploitation of the story by film producers, which is the reason that most of these films share no continuity, were produced by different companies, and tell widely varying stories.

Michael Gingold is an American journalist, screenwriter, and former editor-in-chief of Fangoria magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Ludlow</span> Canadian actor

Graham Ludlow is a Canadian actor, executive, screenwriter and producer. Ludlow was born in England but grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He graduated from Magee Secondary School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monkeypaw Productions</span> American production company

Monkeypaw Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 2012 by Jordan Peele. The company is known for producing horror films, such as Get Out, Us, Candyman, Nope and Wendell & Wild. In 2019, the company signed a 5-year exclusivity deal with Universal Pictures.

Dustin Ferguson is an American underground filmmaker from Lincoln, Nebraska. He has directed numerous music videos and more than 100 horror films since 2007, including The Amityville Legacy. He writes, directs and edits his own films and is known for his prolific output, releasing several feature films each year as well as for making mockbusters and sequels.

References

  1. ↑ "Sandor Stern Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "Sandor Stern". JohnOfTheDead.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Biography of Sandor Stern". SandorStern.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Youth Brigade with experience". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Amityville Horror Review". Best-Horror-Movies.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Film Review of Fast Break". NY Times. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Sandor Stern to Re-Make His Own Film". Joblo.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "Interview with Sandor Stern". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Sandor Stern Films for Sale at Blockbuster". Blockbuster.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "NBC's "John and York: A Love Story"". NY Times. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.