Mark Damon obit

Mark Damon Dies: ‘Monster’ Film Producer, Sales Executive & Spaghetti Western Actor Was 91

 

He was not on the list.

Mark Damon, a film producer, sales executive, and spaghetti Western actor, died at 91, representatives for the executive told Deadline on Sunday night.

Damon, born Alan Harris in Chicago, started his career in Hollywood in 1956 after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox. After starring in House of Usher, Damon won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. The film was directed by Roger Corman, who died on Thursday.

Damon would move to Italy and star in films like The Reluctant Saint (1962), The Young Racers (1963), The Shortest Day (1963), Black Sabbath (1963), 100 Horseman (1964), Secret Agent 777 (1965), Dio, Come Ti Amo! (1966) and Johnny Oro (1966).

he first entered the world of independent sales and production in the 1970s while living and working in Italy where he saw a large market of independent international distributors eager for top American movies. He evolved from acting to film production and, in 1977, founded the Producers Sales Organization to sell American films to international distributors. He is credited with helping to create a vibrant sales market for indie movies.

In 1993, he founded MDP Worldwide, which would be renamed Media 8 Entertainment in 2003. As a producer, Damon received multiple Oscar nominations, including winning an Academy Award in 2005 for Monster. Other films he produced include Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story, The Upside of Anger, 9 1/2 Weeks, 8 Million Ways to Die, Short Circuit, The Choirboys, The Lost Boys, The Jungle Book, The Musketeer, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and many more.

After leaving Media 8, Damon founded Foresight Unlimited in 2005, a film, production, financing and sales company. There, he helped steer the financing for movies including 2 Guns, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Walhberg, and Lone Survivor, starring Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg. The latter went on to gross $125 million at the U.S. box office. In 2019, it was sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

Damon’s last film as a producer was in 2019’s war drama The Last Full Measure, directed by Todd Robinson. The film starred Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda and LisaGay Hamilton among more.

Damon was one of the original founding members of International Film and Television Alliance (IFTA). He received his M.B.A. and B.A. degrees from UCLA. In May 2008, his biography From Cowboy to Mogul to Monster was published, chronicling his 50 years in the entertainment industry.

 

Filmography

Year     Title            Role            Notes

2019    The Last Full Measure            Producer        

2018    The Hurricane Heist            Producer        

2017    Blind            Executive Producer            Starring Alec Baldwin

2014    And So It Goes            Producer         Starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton

2013    Lone Survivor            Executive Producer            Starring Mark Wahlberg

2013    2 Guns            Executive Producer            Starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg

2012            Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning            Executive Producer            Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren

2011            Flypaper            Producer         Starring Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd

2011    The Ledge            Producer         Starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, and Terrence Howard

2009            Universal Soldier: Regeneration            Executive Producer            Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren

2009    It's Alive            Executive Producer     

2009    Beyond a Reasonable Doubt            Producer         Starring Michael Douglas

2007            Captivity            Producer        

2006    O Jerusalem            Producer        

2005    The Upside of Anger            Executive Producer            Starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen

2004    Beyond The Sea            Executive Producer            Starring Kevin Spacey

2004    The I Inside            Producer        

2003            Monster            Producer         Starring Charlize Theron

Academy Award for Best Actress

Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature

2003    11:14            Executive Producer     

2003    The United States of Leland            Executive Producer            Starring Don Cheadle

2002            Extreme Ops            Executive Producer     

2002            FeardotCom            Executive Producer     

2001    The Musketeer            Executive Producer     

2001    The Body            Executive Producer     

2000    Love & Sex            Executive Producer     

1999    Eye of the Beholder            Executive Producer            Starring Ewan McGregor

1999    A Dog of Flanders            Executive Producer     

1997            Deceiver            Wayland's Father

Executive Producer         

1997    The Blackout            Executive Producer     

1996    The Winner            Executive Producer     

1994    The Jungle Book            Executive Producer     

1993            Stalingrad            Executive Producer     

1991    Diary of a Hitman            Executive Producer     

1990            Vietnam, Texas            Executive Producer     

1989    Wild Orchid            Producer         Starring Mickey Rourke

1988    High Spirits            Executive Producer     

1988    Bat*21            Co-Producer         

1988    Mac and Me            Executive Producer     

1987    The Lost Boys            Executive Producer     

1986    Flight of the Navigator            Executive Producer     

1986    Short Circuit            Executive Producer     

1986    8 Million Ways to Die            Executive Producer            Starring Jeff Bridges

1986    9½ Weeks            Producer         Starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger

Directed by Adrian Lyne

1986    The Clan of the Cave Bear            Executive Producer     

1984            Metropolis       Sales Agent  

1984    The NeverEnding Story            Executive Producer            Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

1981    Das Boot            Executive Producer            Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

Nominated for Six Academy Awards

1977    The Choirboys            Executive Producer     

1974    There Is No 13            George Thomas           

1974    The Arena            Producer         Starred Damon's future wife Margaret Markov

1973    Crypt of the Living Dead    Peter   

1973    The Devil's Wedding Night            Karl Schiller

1973    Little Mother Riano  

1972    Byleth: The Demon of Incest   Duke Lionello Shandwell            

1972    Great Treasure Hunt            Kansas Lee     

1972    I leoni di Pietroburgo            Eldar   

1972            Confessioni segrete di un convento di clausura            Domenico       

1972    They Call Him Veritas Veritas

1971    Long Live Robin Hood   Allen   

1971            Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman            Ivanhoe           

1971    Pistol Packin' Preacher            Slim     

1968    Dead Men Don't Count   Johnny Dalton 

1968    Anzio            Wally Richardson            Directed by Edward Dmytryk

1968    All Out            Johnny 

1968    The Young, the Evil and the Savage            Richard Barrett 

1968    Train for Durango            Brown 

1967    Golden Chameleon            Vittorio

1967    No Killing Without Dollars            Laurence        

1967            Requiescant      George Ferguson            Also starring Pier Paolo Pasolini

1966    Johnny Yuma   Johnny Yuma  

1966    Ringo and His Golden Pistol    Johnny Oro/Ringo            aka Johnny Oro, directed by Sergio Corbucci

1966    Dio, Come Ti Amo!            Luis            Also starring Gigliola Cinquetti, 2 times winner of the Festival of San Remo.

1965    Secret Agent 777            Dr. Bardin 

1964    Son of Cleopatra            El Kebir  

1964    100 Horsemen            Don Fernando Herrera y Menendez       

1963    The Tyrant of Castile  Peter I: King of Castile 

1963    Black Sabbath            Vladimire d'Urfe            Also starring Boris Karloff

Directed by Mario Bava

1963    The Shortest Day            Un ufficiale austriaco            Directed by Sergio Corbucci

1963    The Young Racers            Stephen Children            Directed by Roger Corman

1962    The Reluctant Saint            Aldo            Directed by Edward Dmytryk

1962    The Longest Day            Private Harris   Also starring Richard Burton and Sean Connery, Uncredited

1962    Beauty and the Beast            Eduardo         

1962    Peccati d'estate Dr. Gianni Orgei    

1960    House of Usher            Philip Winthrop            Won Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer

Also starring Vincent Price

Directed by Roger Corman

Screenplay by Richard Matheson

1960    This Rebel Breed            Frank Serano

1958    The Party Crashers            Twig Webster          

1958    Life Begins at 17            Russ Lippincott        

1957    Young and Dangerous            Tommy Price   

1956    Alfred Hitchcock Presents            Ray Clements            Season 1 Episode 22: "Place of Shadows"

1956            Between Heaven and Hell      Private Terry, Company G     

1956            Screaming Eagles            Private Lambert          

1956    Inside Detroit  Gregg Linden