Steve Shagan obit

STEPHEN SHAGAN Obituary

 

He was not on the list.

SHAGAN--Stephen H.

"Steve," 88, passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 30, 2015, at his home in Los Angeles, CA. Born in 1927 in New York City to Barnet "Barney" and Rachel Shagan, Steve is survived by his son Robert (Paul). Beloved husband of 61 years of marriage to Elizabeth "Betty" F. Shagan (1930-2013), Steve will be remembered for his kindness, intelligence, creativity, honesty, strength, generosity, humor, integrity and perseverance; as well as the love he felt for the cats that he and Betty cared for over the years. When not dedicating time to his craft, Steve enjoyed traveling, keeping up with his favorite baseball and football teams' scores, horseracing, reading and spending quality time with his family and close friends. Steve's career as a best-selling author, film and television writer and producer spanned nearly six decades; including nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1974, Steve won the Writers Guild of America Award - Best Screenplay, Drama for "Save the Tiger," based upon his novel of the same name. Cumulatively, Steve published eight critically acclaimed novels, wrote 10 screenplays and produced over 48 films, television episodes and made for TV movies, combined. Private family services will be held at Newton Cemetery in Newton Center, MA. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the World Wildlife Fund.

Shagan came to Hollywood in 1958 with his wife, Elizabeth Florance "Betty" Ricker, whom he married on November 18, 1956, in Quincy, Massachusetts. At first he did odd jobs, for example working as a stagehand at a little theater and pulling cables at MGM Studios in the middle of the night. Eventually he started working on scripts and then produced the Tarzan television show on location in Mexico. It was believed that he had a relationship in Mexico with an actress and had son, but this was never confirmed. Betty talked him into quitting and concentrating on writing. Betty, a former fashion model, was the daughter of Philomena (née Pisano) and Al Ricker. Her mother, a dancer, later remarried, to Mayo J. Duca, a Boston jazz trumpet player. Philomena Pisano was the daughter of Katherine "Kitty" Bingham and Fred Anthony Pisano, of the musical-comedy vaudeville team of Pisano and Bingham.

Shagan wrote the screenplay for and co-produced the 1973 film Save the Tiger, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won a Writers Guild of America Award. His novelization of Save the Tiger, which was his first novel, was actually published a year prior to the film's release. He had written the script first, and while he was shopping it around Hollywood, he wrote the novel to help him deal with the stress of trying to sell the script, which took two years to get produced. As he was finishing the book his typewriter broke and author Harold Robbins loaned him his.

Shagan went on to write the novel City of Angels and its film adaptation, Hustle, both released in 1975. He then wrote the screenplay for and co-produced Voyage of the Damned, for which he received another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Adapted Screenplay. This was followed by Nightwing, which he adapted from the novel of same name by Martin Cruz Smith. He then adapted his 1979 novel The Formula into a 1980 film of the same name, which he also co-produced and which reunited him with Save the Tiger director John G. Avildsen. Of the performances by Brando and Scott in The Formula, Steve Shagan reportedly stated: "I sensed a loss of purpose, a feeling that they didn't want to work any more and had come to think of acting as playing with choo-choo trains."

Subsequent films written by Shagan include The Sicilian, which he adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo, and Primal Fear, based on the novel by William Diehl. Shagan also wrote the teleplay for the made-for-television movie Gotti, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Special.

 

Novels

His novels include:

 

Save the Tiger (1972)

City of Angels (1975; filmed as Hustle)

The Formula (1979)

The Circle (1982)

The Discovery (1984)

Vendetta (1986)

Pillars of Fire (1990)

A Cast of Thousands (1994)

 

Producer

Marlon Brando and George C. Scott in The Formula (1980)

The Formula

5.6

producer

1980

 

The House on Garibaldi Street (1979)

The House on Garibaldi Street

6.7

TV Movie

executive producer

1979

 

W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)

W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings

5.9

executive producer

1975

 

Brigitte Fossey and Stuart Whitman in The Man Who Died Twice (1973)

The Man Who Died Twice

7.0

TV Movie

producer

1973

 

Save the Tiger (1973)

Save the Tiger

6.9

producer

1973

 

Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones (1971)

Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones

6.7

producer

1971

 

River of Mystery

7.7

TV Movie

producer

1971

 

A Step Out of Line (1971)

A Step Out of Line

7.5

TV Movie

producer

1971

 

Sole Survivor (1970)

Sole Survivor

7.4

TV Movie

executive producer

1970

 

Tarzan (1966)

Tarzan

7.1

TV Series

producer

1966–1968

37 episodes

 

Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army (1968)

Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army

6.3

producer

1968

 

Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion (1967)

Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion

5.2

producer

1967

 

Mike Henry and Diana Millay in Tarzan and the Great River (1967)

Tarzan and the Great River

5.3

associate producer

1967

 

Mike Henry in Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold

5.8

associate producer

1966

 

Sylvia (1965)

Sylvia

6.6

assistant producer

1965

 

Writer

Gotti (1996)

Gotti

7.2

TV Movie

teleplay (as Steven Shagan)

1996

 

Richard Gere in Primal Fear (1996)

Primal Fear

7.7

screenplay

1996

 

Christopher Lambert in The Sicilian (1987)

The Sicilian

5.4

screenplay

1987

 

Marlon Brando and George C. Scott in The Formula (1980)

The Formula

5.6

novel

screenplay

1980

 

Nightwing (1979)

Nightwing

5.2

screenplay

1979

 

The House on Garibaldi Street (1979)

The House on Garibaldi Street

6.7

TV Movie

screenplay

1979

 

Voyage of the Damned (1976)

Voyage of the Damned

6.4

screenplay

1976

 

Hustle (1975)

Hustle

6.2

novel "City of Angels"

written by (uncredited)

1975

 

Save the Tiger (1973)

Save the Tiger

6.9

written by

1973

 

A Step Out of Line (1971)

A Step Out of Line

7.5

TV Movie

Writer

1971

 

Actor

Tarzan (1966)

Tarzan

7.1

TV Series

(uncredited)

1967

1 episode