Peter Benton Bart (born July 24, 1932) is an American journalist and film producer, writing a column for ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' since 2015. He is perhaps best known for his lengthy tenure (1989–2009) as the editor in chief of ''Variety'', an entertainment-

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

. Bart was also a co-host, with film producer

Peter Guber Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's most recent films from Mandalay Entertainment include '' The Kids Are All ...

, of the weekly television series, ''

Shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

'' (formerly ''Sunday Morning Shootout''), carried on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

from 2003 to 2008 and subsequently seen in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

and in 53 countries around the world.

Early life and education

Bart was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the son of Clara (née Ginsberg) and Max S. Bart and raised on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Staff writer (undated)
"Peter Bart Biography (1932–)"
Accessed August 9, 2009. His mother and likely his father were

Austrian Jews The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the Jewish diaspora, exodus of Jews from History of ancient Israel and Judah#Roman occupation, Judea under Roman occupation. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the ...

who emigrated in the early twentieth century, and both worked as public school teachers. His father was strictly irreligious and anti-communist. Bart was educated at

Friends Seminary Friends Seminary is an independent K-12 school in Manhattan within the landmarked district in the East Village. The oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, Friends Seminary serves 794 students in Kindergarten through Grade 1 ...

in New York City;

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, near

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania; and

The London School of Economics and Political Science , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in London, United Kingdom.

Career

He served as a reporter and columnist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and as a reporter for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' and the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' prior to entering the film business. Starting in 1967, Bart worked as an executive at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, rising to vice president in charge of production; his relationship with

Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), '' Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...

was documented in Evans' autobiography ''

The Kid Stays in the Picture ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' is a 1994 print autobiography by film producer Robert Evans. A film adaptation of the book was released in 2002. The title comes from a line attributed to studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, who was defending Evans a ...

''. He played a key role in such films as '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'' (1969), ''

Harold and Maude ''Harold and Maude'' is a 1971 American romantic black comedy–drama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama. The plot follows the exploits of Harold Chasen ...

'' (1971), ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'' (1972) and '' Paper Moon'' (1973). After eight years at Paramount he became senior vice president for production at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

and president of

Lorimar Productions Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...

, where he was involved in such films as ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers a ...

'' (1979) and '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1981). Bart also served as a co-producer on such films as '' Fun with Dick and Jane'' (1977) and '' Islands in the Stream'' (1977). He also wrote the screenplay for the 1971 film '' Making It'' . He joined ''Variety'' as editor-in-chief in 1989. In 2007, Bart appointed Tim Gray to become his successor as editor with the understanding that he would stay on as columnist, blogger and consultant.The New York Times
(April 6, 2009). In April 2009, it was announced that Bart was moving to the position of "vice president and editorial director", characterized online as ''"Boffo No More: Bart Up and Out at Variety"''. In 2001,

Los Angeles Magazine ''Los Angeles'' magazine is a monthly publication dedicated to covering Los Angeles. Founded in the spring of 1961 by David Brown, the magazine is currently owned and published by Hour Media Group, LLC. Los Angeles magazine's combination of feat ...

reported that Bart had sold the rights to an 86-page novella called ''Power Play'', about "a power struggle between established casino owners and Indian tribes," to Paramount Pictures, where his friend and business associate

was a producer. Bart explained he had "probably spent a weekend" adapting the novella from a 108-page script called ''Crossroaders''. The title page of the script showed it had been authored "By Leslie Cox", Bart's wife at the time, "Based on the novel by Peter Bart. September 1996." When asked if he wrote the script himself as well, Bart said he could not remember. ''Variety'' policy prohibits staffers from selling scripts, as doing so could generate a conflict of interest given that publication's focus and influence on the Hollywood movie industry, though Bart said he has no problem with staff selling the movie rights to books they have written. He served as executive producer and screenwriter of the documentary film, '' Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters'' (2006) shown on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television channel. Through the years Bart has published eight books, including five non-fiction and three fiction. He serves on the board of advisors for Penske Media Company.

Personal life

In 1961, he married Dorothy Callman; they had two daughters Colby Bart Centrella (born 1962) and Dilys Bart Shelton (born 1966). His second wife was Leslie Cox.Washington Post: "Variety Editor Peter Bart Suspended" By Sharon Waxman
August 18, 2001 Bart is remarried to the former Phyllis Fredette. His nephew is actor

Roger Bart Roger Bart (born September 29, 1962) is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. Bart received his second Tony Award no ...

. Accessed April 4, 2009.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;As writer ;Miscellaneous crew ;As an actor ;Thanks

Television

References

Bibliography

(''This list may be incomplete.'') * ''Destinies'', a novel co-written with Denne Bart Petitclerc (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 1979) * ''Thy Kingdom Come'', a novel (Linden, 1981) * '' Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM'', nonfiction (Morrow, 1990). Refers to the final days of MGM as a historic

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

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 ...

. (MGM still exists as a company.) * ''The Gross: the Hits, the Flops – the Summer that Ate Hollywood'', nonfiction (

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 1999) (paperback:

St. Martin's Griffin St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the pub ...

, 2000) * ''Who Killed Hollywood? and Put the Tarnish on Tinseltown'', nonfiction (Renaissance, 2000) * ''Shoot Out: Surviving the Fame and (Mis)fortune of Hollywood'', nonfiction coauthored with Peter Guber (Putnam, 2002) * ''Dangerous Company: Dark Tales from Tinseltown'', a collection of short stories (Miramax, 2003) * ''Boffo! Hollywood in the Trenches: How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb'', nonfiction (Miramax, 2006) * ''Infamous Players: A Tale of Movies, the Mob (and Sex)'', nonfiction (Weinstein Books, 2011)

External links

Variety.com
''

s official website
Peterbart.com
Bart's blog (redirects to Bart's blog hosted by variety.com; most recent entry – May 21, 2009)
"The Backlot"
index to Bart's weekly column for ''Variety'' *
"Q&A – Peter Bart, Variety Editor-in-Chief"
posted by Carolyn Kew (February 14, 2009) at AMC television
Interview with Peter Bart
by Amy Wallace, in ''

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

'' magazine
"Peter Bart"
Bart's blog at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bart, Peter 1932 births Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics American film producers American newspaper editors Television personalities from Los Angeles American male screenwriters American film historians American male non-fiction writers American film studio executives Paramount Pictures executives Film theorists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish American screenwriters Writers from Los Angeles People from the Upper West Side Swarthmore College alumni Variety (magazine) editors Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from New York (state) Historians from New York (state) Historians from California