Stuart Cornfeld (November 13, 1952 – June 26, 2020) was an American film producer. He was business partners with

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...

in the company

Red Hour Productions Red Hour Productions is an American film production company operated by actor Ben Stiller and formerly with producer Stuart Cornfeld. In the past, Red Hour has had first-look deals with New Line Cinema and 20th Century Fox. History Film The name ...

Biography

Cornfeld was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in the early 1970s, and graduated with a degree in Psychology. He graduated from the

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private non-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on stor ...

in 1975. During his time at AFI, one of his classmates was actress

Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, tw ...

, who was preparing to make her first film as a director, '' Fatso''. She hired Cornfeld as producer and also introduced him to her husband,

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

. Brooks also hired him to produce his films '' High Anxiety'' and ''

History of the World, Part I ''History of the World, Part I'' is a 1981 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, ...

''. ''Fatso'' became Brooks's first dramatic film as a producer. Cornfeld later brought the projects ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...

'' and '' The Fly'' to Brooks, along with their respective directors,

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

and

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

. The appearance and personality of Les Grossman, the hotheaded and foul-mouthed Hollywood producer played by

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

in Stiller's film ''

Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 Satire (film and television), satirical Action comedy, action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., ...

'', is reportedly based in part on Cornfeld. On June 26, 2020, Cornfeld died of cancer at age 67.

Filmography

* '' Fatso'' (1980) * '' The Fly'' (1986) * '' Moving'' (1988) * ''

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

'' (1991) * ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' televisi ...

'' (2001) * ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

'' (2004) * '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004) * '' Duplex'' (2004) * '' Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny'' (2006) * '' Blades of Glory'' (2007) * '' The Ruins'' (2008) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

30 Minutes or Less ''30 Minutes or Less'' (stylized onscreen as ''30:Minutes or Less'') is a 2011 American action comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Michael Peña, and Fred Ward. Th ...

'' (2011) * '' The Big Year'' (2011) * '' Vamps'' (2012) * '' The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'' (2013) * ''

Zoolander 2 ''Zoolander 2'' (promoted as ''Zoolander No. 2'') is a 2016 American action comedy film co-produced and directed by Ben Stiller who wrote the script alongside Justin Theroux, John Hamburg, and Nicholas Stoller. The sequel to the 2001 film '' Zo ...

'' (2016) * '' The Polka King'' (2018) Executive producer * '' The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story'' (2009) * ''

Megamind ''Megamind'' is a 2010 American animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, ...

'' (2010) * ''

Submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

'' (2010) * '' Zoolander: Super Model'' (2016)

References

External links

* 2020 deaths People from Tarzana, Los Angeles 1952 births UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Film producers from California AFI Conservatory alumni Male actors from Los Angeles American male television actors American male film actors Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania {{US-film-producer-stub