Richard C. Sarafian obit

R.I.P. Richard Sarafian

 

He was not on the list.

9:52am

 

Vanishing Point director Richard C. Sarafian died early this morning in Santa Monica of complications from pneumonia. He was 83. The New York City-born Sarafian had suffered a fall recently where he broke several ribs and his back. He contracted the infection while recovering from that incident, according to his son Daran Sarafian, also a helmer. Richard Sarafian’s direction of the iconic 1971 car pic was an inspiration to Quentin Tarantino, who gave the director a Special Thanks in the credits of 2007’s car-themed Death Proof. The director was also behind the camera of several early iconic TV series like Batman, I Spy, 77 Sunset Strip and Westerns including Gunsmoke. His last directing job was a 2011 episode of Zorro: The Legend Continues. Sarafian was a presence in front of the camera too: Among his acting gigs, his good friend Warren Beatty cast him in both Bullworth and Bugsy, and he also was in Don Juan DeMarco opposite pal Marlon Brando. Sarafian was also a longtime friend of fellow director Robert Altman — they became more like rivals after Sarafain married Altman’s sister, Joan. The couple had four sons and a daughter.

anishing Point was one of a crop of existential road movies in the early 1970s – the others included Two-Lane Blacktop and Electra Glide in Blue – which quickly gained cult status. Its director, Richard C Sarafian, who has died aged 83, never made another film that struck such a resounding chord with audiences, countercultural or otherwise. No matter: the appeal of Vanishing Point was enduring enough to make him a noted, even influential, figure. Quentin Tarantino thanked Sarafian in the closing credits of his own four-wheeled thriller, Death Proof (2007), and the Scottish band Primal Scream signalled their admiration for Vanishing Point by naming a 1997 album after the movie. "It's always been a favourite of the band," said the singer Bobby Gillespie. "We love the air of paranoia and speed-freak righteousness."

This 1971 film concerns the Vietnam veteran Kowalski (played by Barry Newman after the studio overruled Sarafian's first choice, Gene Hackman), who has to deliver a 1970 Dodge Challenger from Colorado to California in 15 hours, with the police in pursuit. Plausibility and motivation are not paramount here; the movie is fuelled by the momentum of the chase and characterised by its mystical tone, its sense of geographical desolation and its eccentricity, manifested most strongly in a series of offbeat supporting characters including the blind DJ Super Soul (Cleavon Little) who monitors the journey from behind his microphone.

Some European edits of the film, which were up to seven minutes longer than the US cut, included a scene featuring Charlotte Rampling as a hitchhiker. Vanishing Point was produced by two Brits, Michael Pearson and Norman Spencer, and was widely praised in the UK. Alexander Walker in the Evening Standard observed that it was "often an incredibly beautiful film" while the Daily Mail's Shaun Usher said it "makes Bullitt seem scripted for pedal cars".

Sarafian was born in New York to Armenian immigrants. He would later boast of his colourful working life, which he insisted included stints making "a few honest bucks" smuggling whiskey from Virginia into Tennessee. He was also employed as a researcher on Life magazine. Sarafian worked as an army news service reporter in Korea; he met Robert Altman, who was then directing industrial documentaries, while stationed in Kansas City.

Sarafian was initially interested in medicine and law, but a lackadaisical approach to his studies resulted in him taking the supposedly easier option of a film-making course at New York University. He was employed as Altman's assistant and married Helen Joan Altman, the director's sister. They had five children, divorced and remarried.

After starting out in documentaries, Sarafian moved into television and directed instalments of popular series including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, I Spy and the chilling Twilight Zone episode Living Doll. He made his first film, Terror at Black Falls, in 1962, followed by Andy (1965), a drama about a man with learning difficulties, shot as part of a scheme by Universal to encourage new directors.

Sarafian's subsequent pictures included Run Wild, Run Free (1969), a family drama filmed on location in Dartmoor, Devon, and the westerns Man in the Wilderness (1971), starring Richard Harris, and The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973), with Burt Reynolds. Westerns were dear to Sarafian's heart. In 1969, he had expressed an ambition to make one "that's more a documentary than anything else, something that really captures the period". His two grimy efforts in the early 1970s went some way toward realising that ambition.

His directing career continued to be varied – later films included the light-hearted comic thriller Sunburn (1979) starring Farrah Fawcett ("lowly drivel" decided Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times) and The Bear (1984), a biopic of an American college football coach starring Gary Busey. Unhappy with the outcome of his final film, the science-fiction thriller Solar Crisis (1990), he successfully sought to be credited under the industry pseudonym "Alan Smithee". He also had acting roles in a number of high-profile films including Bugsy (1991), Don Juan DeMarco (1994), The Crossing Guard (1995), Bound (1996) and Bulworth (1998). He provided the voice of a beaver for Dr Dolittle 2 (2001).

Filmography

Actor

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1956      The Magic Bond                                Short

1976      The Next Man    Gregory Zolnikov              Uncredited / Also director

1984      Songwriter          Rodeo Rocky     

1986      Alien Predator   Capt. J.J. Wells   Voice, Uncredited

1987      Street Justice     Taxi Driver           Also director

1989      To Die For            Bartender           

1991      Bugsy    Jack Dragna       

1992      Ruby      Proby   

1994      Gunmen              Chief Chavez     

1994      Roadflower         Trucker                

1995      Don Juan DeMarco          Detective Sy Tobias        

1995      The Crossing Guard         Sunny Ventura

1996      Bound   Gino Marzzone

1998      Bulworth              Vinnie  

1999      Blink of an Eye   Erlik      

1999      Blue Streak         Uncle Lou           

2000      Picking Up the Pieces      Wino    

2001      Dr. Dolittle 2       God Beaver         Voice

2002      Hitters                 

2003      Masked and Anonymous              President            

2007      Reeling Teeth    Voice, Short

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1985–1986          Foley Square      Spiro Papadopolis            14 episodes

1986      Long Time Gone               Omar     Television film

1986      Liberty Philbert Evans    Television film / Also director

1989      Wiseguy                               Episode: "Le Lacrime D'Amore: Part 2"

1990      MacGyver           Caspar Kasabian                Episode: "Bitter Harvest"

1993      Sex, Love and Cold Hard Cash      Abe        Television film / Uncredited

1996      Miami Hustle     Henry Kronfeld Television film

1996      Gotti      Paul Castellano Television film

1997      Michael Hayes   Restaurant Owner           Episode: "Retribution"

Director

Film

Year       Title       Notes

1962      Terror at Black Falls         Also producer and writer

1965      Andy      Also producer and writer

1969      Run Wild, Run Free         

1970      Fragment of Fear             

1971      Vanishing Point                

1971      Man in the Wilderness  

1973      Lolly-Madonna XXX        

1973      The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing             

1976      The Next Man    Also writer

1979      Sunburn              

1981      Gangster Wars

1984      The Bear             

1986      Eye of the Tiger                

1987      Street Justice    

1990      Solar Crisis          Credited as Alan Smithee

Television

Year       Title       Notes

1961      Maverick              Episode: "The Forbidden City"

1961      Bronco Episode: "Guns of the Lawless"

1961      Surfside 6            Episode: "Count Seven!"

1961      The Roaring 20's               Episode: "Blondes Prefer Gentlemen"

1961–1962          Lawman               22 episodes

1961–1962          Cheyenne           2 episodes

1962      Hawaiian Eye     2 episodes

1962–1963          The Dakotas       3 episodes

1962–1963          The Gallant Men               9 episodes

1962–1963          77 Sunset Strip 3 episodes

1963      Redigo Episode: "Lady War-Bonnet"

1963      The Great Adventure     Episode: "Six Wagons to the Sea"

1963      The Twilight Zone             Episode: "Living Doll"

1963      Bonanza               Episode: "The Waiting Game"

1963–1965          Ben Casey            3 episodes

1964      Dr. Kildare           Episode: "An Exchange of Gifts"

1965      Slattery's People               4 episodes

1965      The Wild Wild West        2 episodes

1965      Convoy Episode: "Lady on the Rock"

1965      The Long, Hot Summer Episode: "Home Is a Nameless Place"

1965      The Big Valley    Episode: "Winner Lose All"

1965      The Wackiest Ship in the Army   Episode: "The Stowaway"

1965–1968          Gunsmoke          4 episodes

1966      The Trials of O'Brien        Episode: "Alarums and Excursions"

1966      Batman                2 episodes

1966      Jericho 5 episodes

1966      The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.                 Episode: "The Romany Lie Affair"

1966–1968          I Spy       8 episodes

1967      Iron Horse           Episode: "Consignment, Betsy the Boiler"

1967      The Guns of Will Sonnett              3 episodes

1967      Cimarron Strip   Episode: "The Battle of Bloody Stones"

1967–1968          The Danny Thomas Hour               2 episodes

1968      Premiere            

1968      Shadow on the Land       Television film

1975      One of Our Own               Television film

1975      Doctors' Hospital              Episode: "One of Our Own"

1977      The African Queen           Television film

1977      A Killing Affair    Television film

1979      Disaster on the Coastliner             Television film

1980      The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story       Television film

1981      The Gangster Chronicles               Television miniseries / 13 episodes

1981      Splendor in the Grass     Television film

1981      Shannon              2 episodes

1982      The Mississippi Episode: "The Mississippi"

1985      Wildside               3 episodes

1986      Liberty Television film

1990      Zorro     Episode: "Zorro: The Legend Continues" (Unaired TV pilot)