Harry Saltzman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Harry Saltzman
Born	Herschel Saltzman (1915-10-27)October 27, 1915 Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Died	September 28, 1994(1994-09-28) (aged 78) Paris, France
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1956–1994
Known for	Producing the James Bond films
Spouse(s)	Tanya Morris Jacqueline Colin Adriana Ghinsberg
Children	3

Herschel Saltzman (born October 27, 1915 – died September 28, 1994), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian film producer. He is most famous for helping to create and produce the first nine James Bond movies alongside Albert R. Broccoli. Saltzman lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England.

Early Life and Adventures

Harry Saltzman was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. His parents were immigrants from Poland. He grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick for the first seven years of his life. When he was 15, Harry ran away from home. He later found out he was born in Sherbrooke when he was 30 years old.

When he was about 17, Saltzman joined a circus and traveled with them for several years. This early experience showed his adventurous spirit!

Moving to Europe

In 1932, Saltzman moved to Paris, France. He planned to study political science and economics. But within a year, he was already working in entertainment. He was finding talented performers for many vaudeville shows across Europe. Saltzman also said he worked as an assistant for the famous French film director René Clair.

War Efforts and New Beginnings

When World War II started, Harry Saltzman joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. After a medical discharge, he joined the U.S. Psychological Warfare Division. This allowed him to return to Europe.

In 1945, Saltzman helped Lin Yutang set up the film division for UNESCO. This group worked on important global issues. After this, he spent a year with the French government's Ministry of Reconstruction. But he soon decided he wanted to go back to show business.

Becoming a Producer

After the war, Saltzman became a talent scout in Paris. He looked for new performers for stage, TV, and film. He found more success producing plays for the theater.

In the 1950s, Saltzman moved to the United States. He even started a company that put coin-operated hobby horses in department stores! He claimed these hobby horses earned a lot of money each day.

First Steps in Film

Saltzman became a production supervisor for TV shows. He then produced his first film, The Iron Petticoat (1956). He also helped start Woodfall Film Productions with Tony Richardson and John Osborne. They made important British films like Look Back in Anger (1959) and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). These films were known for showing real-life stories.

The James Bond Era

In 1961, Harry Saltzman read the James Bond novel Goldfinger. He was very excited and wanted to make movies based on the character. He managed to get the film rights to James Bond.

In 1962, Saltzman teamed up with Albert R. Broccoli. Together, they created two companies: Danjaq, S.A. and Eon Productions. Danjaq owned the rights to James Bond, and Eon Productions made the movies. They named Danjaq by combining parts of their wives' names: Dana (Broccoli's wife) and Jacqueline (Saltzman's wife).

Their first James Bond film was Dr. No in 1962. It was a huge success! Saltzman and Broccoli continued to produce the Bond films together until The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974.

Behind the Scenes of Bond Music

Harry Saltzman was very involved in the Bond films, even with the music. For the movie Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney wrote the title song. Saltzman almost didn't use it because he wanted a different type of singer. But the music producer, George Martin, convinced him that if he didn't take McCartney as the singer, they wouldn't get the song at all. Saltzman agreed, and the song became a classic!

Other Film Projects

Besides James Bond, Saltzman also produced other successful films. He made three spy movies starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966), and Billion Dollar Brain (1967).

He also produced his favorite World War II film, Battle of Britain (1969). Saltzman also tried to make a film about the Canadian Métis leader Cuthbert Grant.

Later Career and Challenges

In the 1970s, Saltzman faced some financial difficulties. He had to sell his share of the James Bond film rights to United Artists Corporation in 1975. After this, his health declined, and he became depressed.

In 1980, Saltzman bought a theater production company called H.M. Tennent Ltd.. He became its chairman. He mostly retired from making movies after this. He had always wanted to make a film about the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and he received an executive producer credit for the film Nijinsky in 1980. His last film credit was in 1988 for Time of the Gypsies.

Personal Life

Harry Saltzman was married three times. After World War II, he met and married Jacqueline Colin in Paris. They had three children: Hilary, Steven, and Christopher.

In the early 1970s, Jacqueline was diagnosed with a serious illness. In 1972, the Saltzman family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, to be closer to Jacqueline's sister. Jacqueline Saltzman passed away in 1980.

In 1982, Harry Saltzman moved back to London. He later married Adriana Ghinsberg.

Harry Saltzman died from a heart attack on September 28, 1994, while visiting Paris.

List of Saltzman's Productions

See also

In Spanish: Harry Saltzman para niños