Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky (born April 25, 1930, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died June 30, 2014, Los Angeles, California) was an American actor, writer, and director whose films, which often explored relationships, were known for their insight, satire, and compassion.

Early work

After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1951, Mazursky moved to Greenwich Village and appeared in various stage productions while studying acting with Lee Strasberg and Paul Mann. He landed a part in Stanley Kubrick’s low-budget drama Fear and Desire (1953), which marked the feature-film debut for both Mazursky and Kubrick. Mazursky later appeared in the more prominent Blackboard Jungle (1955), but his acting career failed to take off, as he was cast in only minor roles in various television and theatre productions. During this time he began writing for TV, and his notable credits included The Monkees and The Danny Kaye Show.

Directing

Mazursky often wrote with Larry Tucker, and they penned the screenplay for I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), in which Peter Sellers portrayed a conservative attorney who discovers the counterculture. That success positioned Mazursky to direct his first feature film, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), a comedy about sexual experimentation among two couples (one played by Robert Culp and Natalie Wood, the other by Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon); Mazursky also had a small role, as he would in most of the movies he directed. The film was considered a boundary breaker at the time and was a box-office hit. Mazursky and Tucker received an Academy Award nomination for their screenplay.

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The two men then wrote Alex in Wonderland (1970), a satire about Hollywood that starred Donald Sutherland as a compulsively fantasizing film director and Ellen Burstyn as his supportive wife; the film was an homage to 8 1/2 by director Federico Fellini, who made a cameo appearance. Alex in Wonderland was a critical and commercial disappointment, and Mazursky did not return to the big screen until 1973, when Blume in Love was released. The film, which he wrote—his first without Tucker—and directed, was a penetrating marital farce. It starred George Segal as a Los Angeles divorce lawyer desperate to win back his ex-wife (Susan Anspach), who has begun dating a laid-back musician (Kris Kristofferson). Although it earned largely positive reviews, the film failed to attract moviegoers.

Harry and Tonto (1974), however, was a critical and commercial success. The sentimental comedy centred on a 72-year-old retired college professor (Art Carney) who sets off with his cat, Tonto, on a cross-country bus trip to visit his daughter (Burstyn) in Chicago and his son (Larry Hagman) in Los Angeles. Carney gave an Academy Award-winning performance as the lonely but spirited Harry, and the screenplay by Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld also received an Oscar nomination. Mazursky then made the autobiographical comedy Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), which starred Lenny Baker in an acclaimed performance as an aspiring actor in New York City; also notable were Shelley Winters as his domineering mother, Ellen Greene as his girlfriend, and Christopher Walken as a poet. In 1978 Mazursky scored what was then his biggest hit with An Unmarried Woman. Jill Clayburgh starred as a wealthy New Yorker who adjusts to single life after her husband (Michael Murphy) leaves her for another woman. Mazursky’s script was unsparing and well observed, and Alan Bates was a standout as the lover of Clayburgh’s character. Mazursky received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay, and the film was nominated for best picture.

Films of the 1980s

On the heels of that popular and critical success, Mazursky might have been expected to consolidate his position as one of Hollywood’s top director-writers. However, he continued to choose projects based on personal interest rather than box-office potential. His next film was Willie & Phil (1980), a remake of François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962), with Ray Sharkey and Michael Ontkean as friends who fall in love with the same woman (Margot Kidder). It was not quite the equivalent of the original, but it had its own charms. Tempest (1982), however, was an uneasy updating of Shakespeare’s play, with John Cassavetes as a world-weary New York architect who leaves his wife (Gena Rowlands) and takes his young daughter (Molly Ringwald in her film debut) to Greece, where he begins an affair with a singer (Susan Sarandon).

More popular was Moscow on the Hudson (1984), with Robin Williams well cast as a saxophone-playing homesick Soviet defector who tries to adjust to life in New York City. As with most of Mazursky’s work, this bittersweet comedy’s best moments seem to happen on the periphery of the plot. The same is true of Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), but this time Mazursky and writing partner Leon Capetanos replaced the sentiment with laughs. The film—a reworking of Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) by Jean Renoir, a director to whom Mazursky is often compared—was a merciless lampooning of the California lifestyle, and it may be Mazursky’s best movie. Nick Nolte was in top form as a derelict who moves in with a clothes-hanger mogul (Richard Dreyfuss) and his family (Bette Midler, Tracy Nelson, and Evan Richards). The comedy became the biggest hit of Mazursky’s career.

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Moon over Parador (1988) again starred Dreyfuss, now as an actor impersonating a Latin American dictator whose death is being kept secret. The cast included Jonathan Winters, Raul Julia, and Sonia Braga. Mazursky next made Enemies, A Love Story (1989), an adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel about a Holocaust survivor (Ron Silver) who is living in New York City with his wife (Margaret Sophie Stein) while also having an affair with a married woman (Lena Olin). The situation becomes further complicated when his first wife (Anjelica Huston)—thought deceased—appears. Emotionally profound, Enemies earned uniformly positive reviews.

Later work

Scenes from a Mall (1991), however, was an inert comedy, despite the presence of Midler and Woody Allen as a couple whose marriage unravels while they are celebrating their anniversary with a day at the mall. The Pickle (1993) was another disappointment, an inside-Hollywood farce that barely earned a release. Moderately better was Faithful (1996), which was adapted from Chazz Palminteri’s play. Cher starred as the suicidal wife of a businessman (Ryan O’Neal) who has hired a hit man (Palminteri) to kill her, but the two bond while waiting for the husband’s final signal. Mazursky then directed the TV movies Winchell (1998), a biopic of the newspaper columnist, and Coast to Coast (2003), a drama about a couple (Dreyfuss and Judy Davis) who embark on a road trip in an attempt to save their marriage. In 2006 Mazursky made the documentary Yippee, which explores an annual Jewish celebration in a small Ukrainian town.

In addition to his own films, Mazursky acted in a wide range of productions. He appeared in such movies as A Star Is Born (1976) and Carlito’s Way (1993), but arguably his most notable acting work was on television. He had recurring roles on The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mazursky’s memoir, Show Me the Magic, was published in 1999.