Charles W. Fries

Charles William "Chuck" Fries^[1] (b. in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American film producer, television producer, and executive producer who has worked on many TV series, made-for-TV movies, and theatrical films.^[2][3]

Charles moved to Los Angeles, California in 1952 and began working for the production and syndication company Ziv Television Programs. He later worked at Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures, and Metromedia. In 1974, he formed Charles Fries Productions, which later became Fries Entertainment, where he produced and/or supervised more than 275 hours of television movies and mini-series. By the 1980s, Fries was one of the most prominent television producers in Hollywood.

Among the projects he produced are The Amazing Spider-Man television series, which aired in the USA between 1977-1979, the 1980 television miniseries The Martian Chronicles, based on the book by Ray Bradbury, the 1981 television docudrama Bitter Harvest, and the 1989 made-for-TV movies Small Sacrifices and The Neon Empire. For theatrical release, he produced or was involved in the productions of the 1982 film Cat People, the 1986 skateboarding film Thrashin', and the 1989 film Troop Beverly Hills, which he co-produced with his wife, Ava Ostern Fries.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life

Fries worked for his father's produce company, Charles Fries Produce, while attending Elder High School in Cincinnati. He graduated in 1946 and went on to attend Ohio State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating from Ohio State in 1950, Fries continued to work for his father's produce business until, in 1952, a relative who worked at Ziv Television Programs offered Fries the opportunity to move to California and work for the company.^[4]

Ziv Television Programs, Inc.

Fries began to work for Ziv Television in 1952 at California Studios, which is now known as Raleigh Studios, in Hollywood, California. During his eight years at Ziv, the company produced shows such as The Cisco Kid, Highway Patrol, and Sea Hunt. "Television was a cottage industry in 1952, when I came on the scene. The Ziv office staff in Hollywood was very small, probably no more than fifteen people."^[5] With Fries running the company's production and studio operations, Ziv became one of the more prominent independent TV syndication companies. Rather than only buying commercial air time on TV, advertisers during this period would typically buy entire programs, such as General Electric Theater hosted by Ronald Reagan and Texaco Star Theater hosted by Milton Berle. Ziv and other syndication companies would fashion a show for an advertiser by tailoring main titles and commercials to air in the number of cities that the advertiser would "buy." These specially fashioned titles and commercials made it look like the advertiser owned and produced the entire series. The rise of network television ultimately prompted company founder Frederick Ziv to sell the company to United Artists in 1960.

Screen Gems

Fries parted ways with Ziv and was appointed Vice President In Charge of Production for Screen Gems, the Columbia Pictures television arm, in 1960. He was involved in the production of such series as Naked City, Route 66, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, and I Dream of Jeannie, during which he became lifelong friends with that sitcom's lead actress Barbara Eden. Years later, I Dream of Jeannie actor Larry Hagman confided to Fries that during production of the series, Hagman despised the bosses at Columbia and Screen Gems with such fervor that he once hired an airplane to fly over the studio so he could urinate out the window onto the buildings.^[6]

While working at Screen Gems, Fries took a meeting at the famed Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel with Harold Cohen, a former lawyer at several Hollywood talent agencies who was currently between jobs and looking to begin a new career as a producer. Fries arrived for an 8:00 a.m. breakfast meeting to find that Cohen's tablecloth was already soiled. When Fries asked what had happened, Cohen admitted that he'd already had a meeting with someone at 7:30. "I had some coffee with him and I'm gonna have my grapefruit now," Cohen said. After the meeting, Fries was getting up to leave when somebody else showed up at Cohen's table for an 8:45 meeting. Fries realized that, in Hollywood, if you're out-of-work and looking for a new job, a resourceful way to do business is to run your day between a couple of different restaurants. This particular meeting between Fries and Cohen would ultimately result in Screen Gems' placing the variety show The Johnny Cash Show on the air. It ran for two seasons.^[7]

Columbia and Metromedia

In 1968, Fries became Vice President In Charge of Feature Film Production for Columbia Pictures, where he worked on theatrical films such as Castle Keep with Burt Lancaster, The Horseman with Jack Palance, Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson and Getting Straight with Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen.

After two years at Columbia, Fries became Executive Vice President In Charge of Production for Metromedia, where he produced and supervised 26 movies for television and 13 television series, including The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. It was at Metromedia that Fries began to form his reputation as the "godfather" of the television movie.^[8]

Chuck Fries Productions

In 1974, Fries established Chuck Fries Productions, where he produced and/or supervised more than 275 hours of television movies and mini-series.

Awards

Chuck Fries has been awarded one of the greatest honors bestowed on anyone working in Hollywood: his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is directly opposite the famed Mann Chinese Theatre.

Fries is considered the "godfather" of the television movie, having produced and / or supervised over 275 hours of television movies and mini-series. His films have garnered the Emmy, Peabody, Humanitas and Christopher Awards among others from selected film festivals.

Fries has been awarded a special honor by ICAN: The Interagency for Child Abuse and Neglect. And along with his wife, Ava, he received honors from PATH: People Assisting The Homeless; The Maple Center, a Beverly Hills family counseling service; and Cedars Sinai Medical Center, among others. Together they have raised millions for worthy causes in the Los Angeles area with a particular emphasis on the arts and children.

Feature Films

Some of the theatrical motion pictures produced under the Fries banner include Paul Schrader’s The Cat People, a Universal release starring Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell; Out of Bounds, a Fries production starring Anthony Michael Hall, released by Columbia Pictures; skateboarding film Thrashin', distributed by New Line Cinema Corporation which featured a young Tony Hawk and "W" actor Josh Brolin; Flowers in the Attic (film), a co-production with New World; Troop Beverly Hills starring Shelly Long and Craig T. Nelson for Weintraub Entertainment; and Screamers (1995 film), a Sci-Fi / Action film based on a Phillip K. Dick short story starring Peter Weller for Sony/Triumph. Another gem was the straight to video dog-cop sci-fi comedy "K-9000" starring Chris Mulkey.

Contributions

Fries has been, and continues to be, integrally involved in the entertainment industry at large. For 23 years he served at the American Film Institute as Vice Chair and Chair of the Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees. He established the Charles W. Fries Producer of the Year Award at the Institute to encourage quality television programming. Recipients of the award include Dan Curtis, Edgar J. Scherick, Roger Gimbel, Suzanne de Passe, David Gerber, Stan Margulies, Dorothea Petrie, and Dick Berg, among others. He also chaired the Industry Television Committee and the AFI Writers Workshop for fourteen years from which a number of participants have emerged as stellar writers. He also spearheaded with Jon Avnet, the K-12 education program. Additionally, The Ava and Charles Fries Foundation established the Charles W. Fries Telefeature Library at the Institute. In 1986, Fries was awarded a Doctor of Arts Honorary Degree from Ohio State University and in 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Degree in Communication Arts by the American Film Institute. In 2012, Charles Fries’ son, Mike Fries, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Global, made a gift of $2 Million in support of the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives Endowment Fund. Named in honor of his father, the gift establishes the Charles W. Fries Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives. The Wesleyan Cinema Archive collections include the work of Frank Capra, Ingrid Bergman and Elia Kazan among others.

The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors

Fries has been the Chairman, having served for five terms, of the Steering Committee of the Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors, an Alliance of Television and New Media Content Creators, a group with a membership of over 150 distinguished artists. At the Caucus he conceived the Annual Awards Dinner and the Annual Entertainment Night, the proceeds from which support the organization and provide grant funds for the Caucus Foundation. He has been the Chair and / or Co-Chair of these events since their inception over twenty-eight years ago. And because of his long term service to the organization, he has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chair’s Award. Furthermore, Fries was instrumental in co-founding the Caucus Foundation, where he serves as President, which bestows Film Completion Grants on student filmmakers to create diversity behind the camera and helps place selected student in educational and rewarding internships. By the year 2012, the Caucus Foundation has presented 107 student film grants of over 1.0 million dollars in grants and in kind awards.

Books

Fries co-authored the book, We’ll Never Be Young Again: Remembering the Last Days of John F. Kennedy, which incorporates over 100 letters from individuals relating the impact his death had on them which include letters from Jack Valenti, Dominick Dunne, Robert McNamara and Senator John Kerry, among others. The book was then developed as a staged reading for the Kirk Douglas Theatre .

Fries wrote his autobiography, Chuck Fries Godfather of the Television Movie: A History of Television about the early years of television, the day-to-day workings of the entertainment business, the origins of television movies and what it takes to get them produced and distributed. Throughout the book, the reader discovers why Fries has been dubbed "Godfather of the Television Movie" and gains solid insights from a show business veteran on how to succeed in one of the world's most competitive industries.

Stage Plays

His concept for the play, “The Color of Rose,” a three-woman show about the life of Rose Kennedy was also presented at the Douglas Theatre and opened at the Emerson College Theatre in Boston in January 2011.^[9]

Current

Fries is currently a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, where he has served on the Board of Governors and as Treasurer and Secretary of the Foundation. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he served on the Executive Branch Membership Committee. He was awarded a Lifetime Membership in the Producer’s Guild of America, where he launched the Guild’s Black Tie Awards event in 1998 creating a financial base from which he was instrumental in formulating the Guild’s Strategic Plan of Reorganization.

He is also active at the Center Theatre Group (The Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatres), where he served on the Board and the Executive Committee, and as Vice President. He is Co-Chair with his wife, Ava, of the Executive Committee of the CTG Entertainment Circle and through an association with a constituent group, Center Theatre Group Affiliates, has co-chaired a number of events including the Michael Feinstein Salon.

References

External links

• Chuck Fries interview video at the Archive of American Television