Jump to content

Jeannot Szwarc

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeannot Szwarc
Born(1939-11-21)21 November 1939
Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Died14 January 2025(2025-01-14) (aged 85)
Loches, Centre-Val de Loire, France
Other namesJean Szwarc
Alma materHEC; IDHEC
OccupationFilm and television director
Years active1961–2019[1]
SpouseCara de Menaul
Children2

Jeannot Szwarc (21 November 1939 – 14 January 2025) was a French director known for his work in American film and television. His film credits included Jaws 2, Somewhere in Time, Supergirl and Santa Claus: The Movie. Swarc had a prolific career and worked until he was over 80 years of age before retiring to France.

Early life and education

[edit]

Szwarc was born into a Polish-Jewish family in Paris on 21 November 1939. When the Germans invaded the French capital in 1940, his family fled to Portugal and to Argentina. Returning to France in 1947, Szwarc obtains his scientific baccalauréat at Lycée Claude-Bernard and follows the first year of preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) in mathematics and physics at Lycée Saint-Louis de Gonzague.[2]

Szwarc is unable to pursue into Mathématiques spéciales, his second year of classes prépas in view of gaining entrance at a Grande École d'Ingénieurs[3]. He settles for HEC, a business school, graduating in 1961 with a Master's degree in management. Contrary to popular belief, he never studied political science or diplomacy [a] or attended Harvard University.[b]

At HEC, a work placement in the United States allows him to discover the country. Szwarc, moreover, creates a film society (or ciné-club) at the school which becomes popular with fellow students. He also directs student avant-garde plays such as Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit. [4] After HEC, keen on pursuing his passion in cinematography, Szwarc attends film school and enrolls at IDHEC before starting to produce short commercial films for an advertising company in Paris.[5]

Career

[edit]

In 1962, lured by a career in the film industry, Szwarc abandons the world of advertising after having secured a production assistant role in Stanley Donen's movie Charade, which was shooting in Paris.[6] He continues in television as a second unit director and writer-director of short subjects. However, work is limited and hard to find. In 1964, with no connections, Szwarc leaves Paris for Los Angeles in search of career opportunities. Professional beginnings in Hollywood are, nonetheless, difficult.

"It was hell", Szwarc recalls. "I worked odd jobs like writing scripts for a potato chip commercial. I was the guy who puts the laugh on the laugh tracks of a sitcom. After two and a half years of this, I realized that nobody was going to come along and say 'Hey, kid....here's a film to direct'."[7]

Developing Ironside

[edit]

In late 1966, while filling a low-level role for Universal, Szwarc submits an internal memo to television producers detailing ideas for new series, one such idea is developed into a 70-page crime drama outline and becomes the framework for the series Ironside (starring Raymond Burr). He is rapidly promoted to assistant producer of the show and a regular episode writer.[8] He also directs episodes of The Rockford Files, Kojak, Night Gallery, Columbo, The 6 Million Dollar Man, and later, It Takes a Thief, Baretta, Ally McBeal, Heroes, The Practice, JAG, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, Castle, Without a Trace and dozens of other series.[9]

Moving to feature films

[edit]

The 1970s and 1980s witness Szwarc alternate between feature and television films and series. His feature films included Bug (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), Somewhere in Time (1980), Supergirl (1984) Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and Honor Bound. (1988). However, the failure of the last three at the box-office cause him to move to Europe during the 1990s where he directs comedies such as La Vengeance d'une blonde (1994) and Hercule et Sherlock (1996). Nonetheless, outside national barriers, these films find limited appeal.

Back to Television Series

[edit]

Szwarc is called back to Hollywood in the early 2000s where he resumes his career in television.[10]In 2003, he joins the crew of The WB/CW television series Smallville as a director. One of the major episodes he directed was "Homecoming", the 200th episode of the series. Moreover, he co-directed, with Miguel Sapochnik, the fifth and final season premiere of the science-fiction/crime series Fringe as well as multiple other episodes of the series throughout its run.

Honours and Awards

[edit]

Swarc won a 'Best Film of 1981' award, for Somewhere in Time (1980), from the Fantafestival, the oldest and most important Italian Film Festival devoted to science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was also nominated for a Hugo Award in 2008, (Science Fiction's most prestigious award) for an episode of Heroes.

Personal life

[edit]

Szwarc was married to Cara de Menaul (a film production coordinator) and had two sons, Sacha Szwarc and Stefan Szwarc. Both siblings also work in the film industry. [11].

Death

[edit]

Szwarc died from respiratory failure at Central Hospital of Loches, France, on 14 January 2025, at the age of 85.[12]

Selected filmography

[edit]

Feature films

[edit]

Television films

[edit]

Television series

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jeannot Szwarc". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  2. ^ Schlockoff, Alain (1975). L'Ecran fantastique: situation, perspectives, images. FilmEditions. p. 35.
  3. ^ L'Express - Part 4. Presse-Union. 1977. p. 18.
  4. ^ Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 598. ISBN 9780786460915.
  5. ^ La Revue du cinéma: Issues 363–367. Ligue française de l'enseignement et de l'éducation permanente. 1981. p. 113.
  6. ^ Cinéma: Issues 210–216. Fédération française des ciné-clubs. 1976. p. 114.
  7. ^ Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 598. ISBN 9780786460915.
  8. ^ Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 - Volume 2. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 598. ISBN 9780786460915.
  9. ^ Jeannot Szwarc, Yahoo! TV.
  10. ^ Jeannot Szwarc Biography (1939-), Film Reference
  11. ^ Dick, Jeremy. "Jeannot Szwarc, Jaws 2 and Supergirl Director, Dies at 87". www.cbr.com.
  12. ^ Vlessing, Etan; Barnes, Mike (17 January 2025). "Jeannot Szwarc, Director of Somewhere in Time and Jaws 2, Dies at 87". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 January 2025.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ In the 1950s and 1960s, HEC did not offer undergraduate or graduate degrees in Political Science or courses leading to the diplomatic corps.
  2. ^ In a film interview, Swarc referred to HEC as the "Froggy equivalent to Harvard" and this may have led to the misunderstanding.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeannot_Szwarc&oldid=1271006417"