Mace Neufeld
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Mace Neufeld (b. July 13, 1928 in New York City, New York) is a movie producer and television executive producer.
Neufeld began as an amateur photographer in his teens; his first snapshot, a returning World War II veteran, "Sammy's Home", was widely syndicated and won an award from The New York World Telegram-Sun. He first ventured into the television business when he got a job with the Dumont Network (was one of the four major networks, alongside ABC, CBS, and NBC). Within a few years Neufeld then formed his own independent television production company and personal management firm which over the years had promoted such popular comedians as Don Adams, Gabe Kaplan and Don Knotts. Not only comedians worked under Neufeld, but as well as musical talents including The Carpenters, Randy Newman and Jim Croce.
Neufeld also showed his own talent in showcasing performers, writing musical material for the likes of music stars such as Rosemary Clooney, Sammy Davis Jr., Dorothy Loudon and The Ritz Brothers. He also wrote the theme song for the popular animated antics of the two crows showcased in "The Heckle and Jeckle Show".
Neufeld's career then moved more into television series production in the late 1970s, his products of the time had included the enjoyably light-hearted if short-lived The Captain and Tennille, which ran from 1976 to 1977 on ABC, The Kids from C.A.P.E.R., which ran from 1976 through 1977 on CBS, and Quark, which only ran for one year in 1978 on NBC. He also became a film producer, and enjoyed immediate popular if hardly critical success with the cult classic, The Omen in 1976, along with its increasingly desultory sequels. Neufeld stayed with essentially frivolous fare, such as the TV-movie Angel on My Shoulder that featured on ABC 1980; the features The Frisco Kid in 1979 and Transylvania 6-5000 in 1985, for a while, but as the 1980s progressed and tried his hand at more serious and ambitious material. His television miniseries adaptation of East of Eden in 1981 was generally respected and his first major, big-budget production No Way Out in 1987 was a highly intriguing if flawed thriller set amid federal corruption.
However, Neufeld's goal was always to provide an essentially escapist rather than a satirical humor and action melodrama which updated genre conventions for contemporary tastes. His television work has ranged from the sincere if short-lived family drama The American Dream, which ran only in 1981, and the fantasy of The Magic Planet, also ran for one year in 1983, bot shows were on ABC, the Hollywoodiana of White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd, which ran only in 1991 on NBC and the adventure of "Lightning Force", syndicated, FROM 1991 to 1992). More of Neufeld's energies as the 1990s progressed have been focused on expensive feature thrillers. His production company with mogul Marvin Davis was followed by one set up with Robert G. Rehme, which arranged an exclusive producing deal with Paramount. Flight of the Intruder, a 1991 film, had never got off the ground with paying customers or the critics, but Neufeld-Rehme's lavish thrillers, The Hunt for Red October a 1990, Patriot Games a 1992 feature and Clear and Present Danger, released in 1994, were considerably better received.
