In Remembrance: Ray Stark

     Oscar nominated producer Ray Stark died January 17, 2003 after a long illness. He was 88.

     Born on Oct. 3, 1915, Stark received his college education at New Jersey’s Rutgers University and found work as a reporter and a publicist. Shortly after World War II he entered into the agency business working with radio writers and then authors.

     When Stark moved to Hollywood, he joined Charles Feldman's agency, Famous Artists, learning the business of making movie deals. Among the agencies high-ranking clients were William Holden, Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas.

     In 1957, Stark left Feldman’s agency and joined Eliot Hyman to form Seven Arts Productions. Stark first produced William Holden’s The World of Suzie Wong (1960) and acted as production executive for West Side Story (1961), starring Natalie Wood.  He also produced John Huston’s 1964 adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana starring Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr.

     Ray Stark was the son-in-law of vaudevillian Fanny Brice and had ideas of dramatizing the life of the great Broadway singer and comedienne. He put together a stage musical, Funny Girl. At the time, Barbra Streisand was establishing herself as a singer on Broadway and by making television appearances. Impressed by Streisand, Stark chose her to play Fanny. Both the musical and Streisand became the hits of Broadway in March 1964. 

     Stark left Seven Arts in 1966 to form Rastar Productions.  His first project was to convert his hit musical into a smash movie. Three time Oscar winner William Wyler was chosen to direct. Streisand earned an Oscar as best actress (sharing a tie with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter). She agreed to a movie contract with Stark and starred in The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), the Sidney Pollack directed The Way We Were (1973), which also starred Robert Redford, and Funny Lady (1975).

     Stark enjoyed the work of playwright Neil Simon and agreed to produce various adaptations of his work. Among those films are The Sunshine Boys (1975) directed by Herbert Ross and starring Walter Matthau and George Burns, The Goodbye Girl (1977) and also 1978’s California Suite, starring Maggie Smith.  Other memorable hits include the Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn romantic comedy Seems Like Old Times (1980) and Biloxi Blues (1988), starring Matthew Broderick. 

     Other notable film credits include John Huston’s adaptation of Broadway’s Annie (1982) and Herbert Ross’ weepy comedy drama, Steel Magnolias (1989) starring Sally Field, Shirley MaClaine and a relatively unknown Julia Roberts. After Steel Magnolias, Stark stopped producing Hollywood film and ventured into television, producing the widely acclaimed 1993 HBO telepicture Barbarians at The Gate.

     Stark was considered the last of the great independent producers, imitating the success of Samuel Goldwyn and David O. Selznick. He made films that were based on hit plays or best selling books, always securing the top directors of the time as well as A-list actors. As a producer, Stark’s long-term relationships with those he worked with included writers, directors, and actors. Ten films were made with Neil Simon, eight with Herbert Ross and five with Jackie Gleason.

     Stark’s films were successful for George Burns, Dame Maggie Smith and Richard Dreyfuss who all won Academy Awards. Julia Roberts also received her first nomination for her work in Steel Magnolias. Stark was nominated for Best Picture Oscars for the films Funny Girl and The Goodbye Girl.

     In 1980, Stark received the Motion Picture Academy's highest prize for a producer: the Irving G. Thalberg Award for consistent high quality of production.