Ronald Schwary, Oscar-Winning Producer of 'Ordinary People,'
Dies at 76
The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
7/8/2020
He had another best picture nominee with 'A Soldier's Story'
and led six Sydney Pollack-helmed films, including 'Absence of Malice' and
'Tootsie.'
Ronald Schwary, the Oscar-winning producer of Ordinary
People who guided other acclaimed films including A
Soldier's Story, Absence of Malice, Scent of a
Woman and Tootsie, has died. He was 76.
Schwary died Thursday in West Hollywood,
his sons, Neil and Brian, announced. In 2015, he was forced to retire after
struggling with a rare neurological autonomic disorder.
"Over the years, he fought hard to be the best version
of himself that he could be, still constantly joking and laughing no matter how
hard the day was," Neil said in a statement. "His zest for life still
remained through the trials and tribulations of his disease."
Schwary produced six features directed by Sydney
Pollack: The Electric Horseman (1979) and Havana (1990),
both starring Robert Redford; Absence of Malice (1981),
starring Paul Newman; best picture nominee Tootsie (1982),
starring Dustin Hoffman; the remake of Sabrina (1995),
featuring Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond; and Random Hearts (1999),
also starring Ford.
Schwary also produced *batteries not included (1987),
starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy; The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996),
directed by and starring Barbra Streisand; and Meet Joe Black (1998),
which paired Brad Pitt with Anthony Hopkins.
"I like to do films that make you think," he said
in a 2012 interview. "My films, you walk out of the theater and you can
actually talk about [them]."
He also produced a Rolling Stones' 1982 concert
documentary, Let’s Spend the Night Together.
After serving as an associate producer on the Jan-Michael
Vincent horror film Shadow of the Hawk (1976), the Neil
Simon-scripted California Suite (1978) and Electric
Horseman, the Oregon
native won his Oscar for Ordinary People (1980), adapted by
Alvin Sargent from Judith Guest's 1976 novel. It was his first solo producing
effort.
The drama, which marked Redford's
directorial debut, starred Mary Tyler Moore as a frighteningly cold suburban
mother who can't forgive her teenage son (Timothy Hutton) for living after his
brother (her favorite son) dies. Redford,
Hutton and Sargent won Academy Awards as well.
"As far back as 4 1/2 years ago, when Robert Redford
acquired the novel, he strongly believed that this could be a very special
film," Schwary said in his Oscar acceptance speech on stage. "This
belief, along with his sensitive direction, was the inspiration behind the
project. I want to thank Bob for giving me the opportunity to produce this
picture, and I want to say he must come up here and share this with me. Bob,
wherever you are, come on up."
Schwary landed another best picture nomination for his work
on Norman Jewison's A Soldier's Story (1984), starring
Howard E. Rollins Jr. Adapted from an off-Broadway play about racism in the
U.S. Army during World War II, it lost out on Oscar night to Amadeus.
Schwary also served as an executive producer alongside Glenn
Gordon Caron on the 2005-11 NBC series Medium, starring Patricia
Arquette as a psychic, and on the CBS 1999-2000 drama Now and Again.
Born on May 23, 1944, in The Dalles, Oregon,
Schwary was the second oldest of five children. At age 14, he wrote a letter to
Cecil B. DeMille, asking for some stills from his favorite movie, The
Ten Commandments. The famed director sent him a few and invited him to Paramount to meet him.
Soon, Schwary was on a Greyhound bus for the pilgrimage from Portland
to Los Angeles.
When Schwary arrived at the studio gates, he was told that
DeMille was in the hospital, and he went home. Correspondence between the two
continued until DeMille's death the following year.
Schwary graduated from Jesuit High School
in 1962 and then USC with a business degree in 1967. After college, John Wayne,
a fellow USC alum, paid the $218 for Schwary to take the assistant directors
training program test to become a DGA trainee. When he didn't pass, the actor
helped him get work as a stand-in for Hoffman on The Graduate (1967)
and as an extra in Planet of the Apes (1968).
Schwary passed the test the second time, and in 1973, he won
a DGA award for outstanding directorial achievement in a comedy series (shared
with Gene Reynolds and Wes McAfee) for his contribution to the pilot episode
of M*A*S*H.
Later, he served as second assistant director on such films
as the Jack Lemmon-starring Save the Tiger (1973) and Dirty
Mary Crazy Larry (1974), starring Peter Fonda, and on the ABC
series Kung-Fu before turning to producing.
He also was known for mentoring folks including Schindler's
List producer Gerald R. Molen, actor Eric Close (Without a Trace, Nashville), Supergirl producer
Jessica Queller and film and TV producers/executives Jen Roskind and Laurie
Seidman.
Schwary said he had to roust Al Pacino to get to work on
Martin Brest's Scent of a Woman (1992), another best picture
nominee. "With Al, it was like the tango," he said. "I had to
actually go over and get him out of bed to go to rehearsal. He said, 'Aw, I'll
do it tomorrow.' I said, 'Get your ass out of bed.'"
Pacino, of course, went on to win the best actor for his
performance as a blind retired Army officer.
Schwary was married to Emmy-nominated hairstylist Susan
Carol Schwary from 1971 until their 1994 divorce. In addition to his sons — who
worked in production and as actors — survivors include his brothers, Mitchell
Jr., Dennis and Gary; his sister, Carol; and his grandson, Mars.
SCHWARY, Ronald L.
(Ronald Louis Schwary)
Born: 5/23/1944, The Dalles, Oregon,
U.S.A.
Died: 7/2/2020, West Hollywood, California,
U.S.A.
Ronald L. Schwary’s
westerns – production manager, assistant director:
Kung Fu (TV) – 1973 [assistant director]
Breakheart
Pass – 1975 [assistant
director]
The Electric Horseman – 1979 [production manager
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