In Remembrance: Charles A. Pratt

     Charles A. Pratt, the producer who oversaw such films as The Great Santini and the Walking Tall trilogy, has passed away on April 27, 2005 in Encino, California. He was 81.

     Born in Chicago in 1923, Pratt attended the prestigious Chicago Latin School and then Culver Military Academy. At age 17, he worked as a cowboy at a Colorado ranch. He joined the United States Cavalry in 1942, patrolling the United States-Mexico border until the Cavalry was phased out. Pratt then joined the Army and served in the Pacific. After the end of World War II, Pratt attended Amhearst College. Following graduation, he worked in various sales and advertising positions, eventually becoming an account executive for NBC. He then held vice-president positions at General Foods and Alberto-Culver. After being hired by Cox Broadcasting Atlanta, Pratt was sent to the company’s recent purchase, Bing Crosby Productions, charged with overseeing the television production company’s expansion into theatrical films.

     The company’s first film under Pratt’s stewardship was the low-budget thriller Willard (1971). Although the film got mixed critical reviews, the story of a social misfit who extracts revenge on his tormenters with the help of a horde of killer rats did well enough at the box office to spawn a sequel, Ben (1972). The theme song to Ben, written by Walter Scharf and Don Black and performed by Michael Jackson, would receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

     Pratt’s next hit was 1973’s Walking Tall, which starred Joe Don Baker as tough sheriff working to clean up his corrupt Southern town. The film launched two sequels, Walking Tall Part II (1975) and Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), as well as a disappointing 2004 remake.

     Pratt’s biggest success, The Great Santini (1979), produced in association with Mike Medavoy and Orion Pictures, earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Robert Duvall and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Michael O’Keefe. Based on a novel by Pat Conroy, the film told the story of a Marine officer (Duvall) who is emotionally closed off from his family.

     Pratt retired from filmmaking in 1985.