Fred Robert Weintraub (April 27, 1928 – March 5, 2017) was an American film and television producer and writer.
Career
Background Weintraub was the original owner and host of The Bitter End in New York City's Greenwich Village. Weintraub discovered singers and stand-up comedians such as Peter, Paul and Mary, Lenny Bruce (with whom he was arrested for obscenity), Randy Newman and The Isley Brothers. The club also featured early performances of Neil Diamond, Woody Allen, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Ricky Nelson, Nina Simone, Dustin Hoffman, Charles Aznavour, Lily Tomlin, Stevie Wonder, Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, George Carlin, Bob Dylan, Harry Chapin, Bill Cosby and Phil Ochs. During the early 1960s, The Bitter End hosted "Open Mike" Hootenannies every Tuesday night, showcasing young, old, known and unknown folk singers.
Weintraub is not related to fellow film producer Jerry Weintraub.
Films and television Moving west in the mid-1960s, Weintraub created, wrote, and produced several television shows including Hootenanny and Dukes of Hazzard. Beginning with Rage, then Enter the Dragon, Weintraub produced dozens of movies, many with a martial arts theme (like China O'Brien with Cynthia Rothrock, for example), as well as directing a documentary on Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee: The Curse of the Dragon (1993).
In 1970, Weintraub became an Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. One of the first films he oversaw for the studio was Woodstock. In 1972, he became an independent producer and made a number of adventure films, including Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee.
One of Weintraub's documentary films was It's Showtime (1976), which consisted of film clips profiling various animal actors, such as Rin Tin Tin, Flipper, Trigger, and Asta, with commentary from the actors who worked with them, and including footage of James Cagney, Jimmy Durante, Cary Grant, Maureen O'Sullivan, Dick Powell, Ronald Reagan, and Mickey Rooney working with animal stars.
In 1978, Weintraub and Gordon McLendon worked on an idea for a TV series about the CIA. They were disillusioned with the negative portrayal of the agency, such as in the film Three Days of the Condor. As a result, McLendon and CIA veteran David Atlee Phillips approached CIA Director Stansfield Turner in March 1978 about the idea, although nothing came of the proposal.
Other work In 2011, Weintraub published his memoir, Bruce Lee, Woodstock and Me, along with collaborator David Fields, recalling his fifty-year career in the entertainment industry.
Death Weintraub died on March 5, 2017, in his Pacific Palisades home due to natural causes related to Parkinson's disease. He was 88.
He is survived by his wife Jackie; children Sandra, Barbara, Max, and Zachary; and four grandchildren.
Filmography
Producer TitleYearNotesChristmas at F.A.O. Schwarz1968Executive producer; television filmRage1972Invasion of the Bee Girls1973Executive producerEnter the Dragon1973Black Belt Jones1974Truck Turner1974Golden Needles1974The Ultimate Warrior1975Trial by Combat1976It's Showtime1976Documentary filmHot Potato1976Checkered Flag or Crash1977Outlaw Blues1977Executive producerThe Pack1977The Promise1979Jaguar Lives!1979Tom Horn1980The Big Brawl1980Force: Five1981High Road to China1983Gymkata1985Out of Control1985The Women's Club1987My Father, My Son1988Television filmThe Best of the Martial Arts Films1990Documentary filmChips, the War Dog1990Executive producer; television filmChina O'Brien1990A Show of Force1990Co-producerChina O'Brien II1990Direct-to-videoBorn to Ride1991The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes1992Documentary filmGypsy Eyes1992Trouble Bound1993The Curse of the Dragon1993Documentary filmBackstreet Justice 1994Under the Gun1995Executive producerTriplecross1995Television filmsPlayboy's Really Naked Truth1995-97Executive producer (21 episodes)Undertow1996Television filmThe New Adventures of Robin Hood1997-98Executive producer (53 episodes)The Devil's Arithmetic1999Television filmsPerilous2000Television filmsAmazons and Gladiators2001Warrior Angels2002Endangered Species 2003Dream Warrior2003La Femme Musketeer2004Mini-series (2 episodes)Patton's Ghost Corps2006Executive producer; direct-to-video documentary
Writer TitleYearNotesBlack Belt Jones1974StoryTrial by Combat1976StoryHot Potato1976CharactersThe Promise1979StoryThe Big Brawl1980StoryThe Women's Club 1987StoryThe New Adventures of Robin Hood1997-1998Creator (53 episodes)
Director TitleYearNotesIt's Showtime1976Documentary filmThe Curse of the Dragon1993Documentary film
Other credits TitleYearNotesHootenanny1963-1964Talent coordinator (2 episodes)Black Belt Jones1974Cameo as "Judge"The Dukes of Hazzard1979Consultant (5 episodes)
References
External links