Alexander Salkind (; 2 June 1921 – 8 March 1997) was a European film producer, the second of three generations of successful international producers.

Life and career

Salkind was born in the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

to Russian-born

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents, Maria and Mikhail Salkind (later Miguel Salkind). His family moved to France, where his father worked as a film producer. Following in his father's footsteps, he produced French films and others in Europe and Hollywood: ''

Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to: History * Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte Places * Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...

'' directed by

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J ...

, Kafka's ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and pr ...

'' directed by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, and 1978's ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' starring

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film ''Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, ...

and

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Awa ...

. Salkind's double production, ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' (1973), closely followed by '' The Four Musketeers'' (1974), led the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

to issue what became known as the "Salkind Clause", which is intended to guarantee that an acting contract for one film cannot be extended into two films without the consent of the actor. In 1985,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

named Salkind as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication ''

Fifty Who Made DC Great ''Fifty Who Made DC Great'' is a one shot published by DC Comics to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary in 1985. It was published in comic book format but contained text articles with photographs and background caricatures. Publication h ...

'' for his work on the ''Superman'' film franchise. Alexander Salkind died in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

in 1997 and was buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux in the Parisian suburb of

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

. Salkind's son,

Ilya Salkind Ilya Juan Salkind Domínguez (; born July 27, 1947), usually known as Ilya Salkind, is a Mexican film and television producer, known for his contributions to three of the four live-action Superman films of the 1970s and 1980s alongside his fat ...

(b. 1947), is also a film producer.

Filmography

*''Marina'' (1945 – producer) *''Soltera y con Gemelos'' (1945 – producer) *''Sinfonia de una vida'' (1946 – producer; also known as ''The Symphony of Life'') *'' Il moderno Barba Azul'' (''A Modern Bluebeard'') (1946 – producer; released in the U.S. as ''Boom to the Moon'') *''

Black Jack Blackjack is a popular casino-gambling card game. Black Jack or Blackjack may also refer to: Places Australia * Black Jack, Queensland, a locality in Queensland * Black Jack, a civil parish of Pottinger County, New South Wales * Black Jack H ...

'' (1950 – co-producer; also known as ''Captain Black Jack'') * '' The Daughter of the Regiment'' (1953 – producer; released in Italy as ''La figlia del Reggimento'', and in the U.S. as ''The Daughter of the Regiment'') *' (1958 – producer; released in Italy as ''A Parigi in vacanza'', and worldwide as ''My Darned Father'') *''

'' (1960 – producer; released in the U.S. as ''The Battle of Austerlitz'', and in Italy as ''Napoleone ad Austerlitz'' or ''La Battaglia di Austerlitz'') *'' Romulus and the Sabines'' (1961 – producer; released in France as ''L'Enlevement des Sabines'', and in Latin America as ''El Rapto de las Sabinas'') *''

'' (''Le Procès'') (1962 – producer, uncredited; released in West Germany as ''Der Prozess'', and in Italy as ''Il Processo'') *''

Ballad in Blue ''Ballad in Blue'' (originally titled ''Blues for Lovers'') is a 1965 British drama music film starring R&B legend Ray Charles. The film was the last to be directed by Paul Henreid. Plot Ray Charles helps blind boy David in his struggle to ...

'' (1965 – producer; also known as ''Blues for Lovers'') *''

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

'' (1967 – producer; released in the U.S. as ''The Life of Cervantes'' or ''Young Rebel'', in France as ''Les Aventures Extraordinaires de Cervantes'', and in Italy as ''Le Avventure e Gli Amori di Cervantes'') *''

Hot Line A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that automa ...

'' (1967 – producer; released in France as ''Le Rouble à deux faces'') *''

The Light at the Edge of the World ''The Light at the Edge of the World'' is a 1971 adventure film, adapted from Jules Verne's classic 1905 adventure novel ''The Lighthouse at the End of the World'' (''Le Phare du bout du monde''). The plot involves piracy in the South Atlantic d ...

'' (1971 – presenter, executive producer) *''

Kill! is a 1968 Japanese comedy-chambara film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The film had a screenplay written by Akira Murao and Okamoto, and is based on the story ''Torideyama no jushichinichi'' () in '' Yamamoto Shugoro zenshu'' (1964) by Shūgorō Y ...

'' (1971 – producer/presenter; released in the U.S. as ''Kill, Kill, Kill!'', in Spain as ''Kill: Matar'', and in France as ''Police Magnum'') *''

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...

'' (1972 – producer/presenter; released in Italy as ''Barbablu'', in West Germany as ''Blaubart'', and in France as ''Barbe-bleue'') *''

'' (1973 – producer/presenter; also known as ''The Queen's Diamonds'') *'' The Four Musketeers'' (1974 – producer/presenter; also known as ''Milady's Revenge'' or ''The Revenge of Milady'') *'' Folies bourgeoises'' (1976 – producer/presenter; released in the U.S. as ''The Twist'', in West Germany as ''Die Verruckten Reichen'', and in Italy as ''Pazzi Borghesi'') *'' Crossed Swords'' (1978 – presenter; also known as ''The Prince and the Pauper'') *'' Superman: The Movie'' (1978 – presenter) *''

Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film seri ...

'' (1980 – presenter; released in the U.S. in 1981) *''

Superman III ''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and a sequel to ''Su ...

'' (1983 – presenter) *''

Where Is Parsifal? ''Where Is Parsifal?'' is a 1984 British comedy film directed by Henri Helman and starring Tony Curtis, Cassandra Domenica, Erik Estrada, Peter Lawford (in his final film role), Ron Moody, Donald Pleasence and Orson Welles. The film screened in ...

'' (1983 – presenter, uncredited) *''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (1984 – presenter) *'' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985 – presenter) *''

The Rainbow Thief ''The Rainbow Thief'' is a 1990 film directed by filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and written by Berta Domínguez D. It reunites ''Lawrence of Arabia'' co-stars Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in a fable of friendship. Christopher Lee also plays a ...

'' (1990 – executive producer, uncredited) *'' Christopher Columbus: The Discovery'' (1992 – presenter) *'' Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut'' (2006 – presenter)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salkind, Alexander 1921 births 1997 deaths People from the Free City of Danzig Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux French film producers French people of Russian descent French people of Russian-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to France