Arthur Gardner (born Arthur Goldberg; June 7, 1910 – December 19, 2014) was an American actor and film producer. He was known for his television western, ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...

''. He was a voting member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

Early life

Gardner was born Arthur Goldberg in

Marinette, Wisconsin Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephenson Island, part of the ...

, and raised in an upper-middle-class

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 ...

family. He started his show business career as an actor when he was 18 years old. In 1929 he arrived in Hollywood, where

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the most important o ...

employed him as an extra for the film studio

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

. One of his first roles was as a student in 1930's ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma du ...

''. He was the last surviving member of the cast and crew. Gardner and

Luise Rainer Luise Rainer ( , ; 12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-American-British film actress. She was the first thespian to win multiple Academy Awards and the first to win back-to-back; at the time of her death, thirteen days shy of her ...

were in 1938's '' Dramatic School'', and, up until his death two weeks before Rainer, were the last two surviving members, both at the age of 104. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gardner served in the Army Air Forces'

First Motion Picture Unit The 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit), originally known as the First Motion Picture Unit, Army Air Forces, was the primary film production unit of the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II, and was the first military unit mad ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

. Like many Jewish actors at the time, he changed his name because of fears of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. There he met Jules Levy and

Arnold Laven Arnold Laven (February 3, 1922 – September 13, 2009) was an American film and television director and producer. He was one of the founders and principals of the American film and television production company Levy-Gardner-Laven. Laven was a ...

. The three formed the

Levy-Gardner-Laven Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions was an American film production company based in Beverly Hills, California. The principals, Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner, and Arnold Laven, met while serving in the Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit during Wo ...

production company in 1951. Gardner's producing credits include the television series ''

'' (1958–1963) and ''

The Big Valley ''The Big Valley'' is an American Western drama television series that originally aired from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 on ABC. The series is set on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The one-hour e ...

'' (1965–1969). His feature film credits include 1974's ''

McQ ''McQ'' is a 1974 American Panavision neo-noir crime action film directed by John Sturges and starring John Wayne. It costars Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Al Lettieri, and features Colleen Dewhurst, Clu Gulager, David Huddleston, Julian Chri ...

'' and 1975's '' Brannigan,'' both starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

Personal life

Gardner lived in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

from 1963 until his death there on December 19, 2014, at the age of 104.Ryan Parker.
Hollywood producer Arthur Gardner dies at 104
, ''Los Angeles Times'', December 19, 2014. Accessed December 20, 2014. His son Steve Gardner is an attorney. His son Douglas is an assistant director.

References

External links

* *
Oscars' oldest voter, 101, offers link to Hollywood's Golden Age
- ''Los Angeles Times'' article
TV pioneer reaches milestone
- ''Variety'' article 1910 births 2014 deaths People from Marinette, Wisconsin Male actors from Beverly Hills, California Male actors from Wisconsin Film producers from California American centenarians Jewish American male actors First Motion Picture Unit personnel American male film actors Film producers from Wisconsin Men centenarians 21st-century American Jews {{US-film-producer-stub

Early life

Personal life

See also

References

External links