# David L. Wolper

David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, and North and South, and the theatrically-released films Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and L.A. Confidential. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985 for his work producing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as helping to bring the games there. His 1971 film (as executive producer) about the study of insects, The Hellstrom Chronicle, won an Academy Award.

## Biography

Wolper was born in New York City, into an eastern European Jewish family, the son of Anna (née Fass) and Irving S. Wolper. He briefly attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa before transferring to the University of Southern California.
Wolper directed the 1959 documentary The Race for Space, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and others including Biography (1961–63), The Making of the President 1960 (1963) and Four Days in November (1964). Wolper then sold his company to Metromedia for $3.6 million in 1964. In October 1968, he paid $750,000 to leave Metromedia and took six films projects with him. The pre-1968 library is owned by Cube Entertainment (formerly International Creative Exchange), while the post-1970 library (along with Wolper's production company, Wolper Productions, now known as The Wolper Organization) has been owned by Warner Bros. since November 1976.
In 1969, Wolper received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
He won an Academy Award for the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle, about the study of insects, which he executive produced. He also produced numerous documentaries and documentary series including The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (TV) (1968), Appointment With Destiny (1971–73 TV series), Visions of Eight (1973), This Is Elvis (1981), Imagine: John Lennon (1988) and others.
On March 13, 1974, one of his crews filming a National Geographic history of Australopithecus at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was killed when their Sierra Pacific Airlines Corvair 440 slammed into the White Mountains shortly after takeoff from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, killing all 35 on board, including 31 Wolper crew members. The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast in the television series Primal Man. The cause of the crash remains unsolved.
In 1984, he helped bring the Olympic Games to Los Angeles and produced the opening and closing ceremonies. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards the following year.
In 1988, Wolper was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. For his work on television, he had received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wolper died on August 10, 2010, of congestive heart disease and complications of Parkinson's disease at his Beverly Hills home. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hollywood Hills cemetery.

## Productions

His company was involved in the following productions. He was a distributor of the early shows, and became an executive producer with The Race for Space in 1958.
| Year | Show |
| 1949 | Funny Bunnies (36 episodes) |
| 1953 | Adventures of Superman (90 episodes) |
| 1954 | Baseball Hall of Fame (75 episodes) |
| 1954 | O.S.S. (32 episodes) |
| 1954 | Grand Ole Opry (39 episodes) |
| 1955 | Congressional Investigator (26 episodes) |
| 1958 | Men from Boys - The First Eight Weeks |
| 1958 | The Race for Space |
| 1959 | Project: Man in Space |
| 1960 | Hollywood: The Golden Years |
| 1961 | Biography of a Rookie: The Willie Davis Story |
| 1961 | The Rafer Johnson Story |
| 1962 | Hollywood: The Great Stars |
| 1962 | Hollywood: The Fabulous Era |
| 1962 | D-Day June 6, 1944 |
| 1962 | Biography |
| 1962–1963 | Story of... |
| 1963 | Hollywood and the Stars |
| 1963 | Escape to Freedom |
| 1963 | Kreboizen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict |
| 1963 | The Passing Years: Rework of Story of a Year 1927 |
| 1963 | [[The Making of the President 1960 {{{last}}}]] |
| 1963–1964 | Specials for United Artists |
| 1964 | The Legend of Marilyn Monroe |
| 1964 | The Quest for Peace |
| 1964 | A Thousand Days: A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy |
| 1964 | Men in Crisis |
| 1964 | Four Days in November |
| 1965 | France: Conquest to Liberation |
| 1965 | Korea: The 38th Parallel |
| 1965 | Prelude to War (Beginning of World War II) |
| 1965 | Japan: A New Dawn over Asia (Japan in the 20th Century) |
| 1965 | 007: The Incredible World of James Bond |
| 1965 | Let My People Go: The Story of Israel |
| 1965 | October Madness: The World Series |
| 1965 | Race for the Moon |
| 1965 | Miss Television U.S.A. |
| 1965 | The Really Big Family: The Duke of Seattle & Their 18 Children |
| 1965 | Revolution in Our Time |
| 1965 | The Bold Men |
| 1965 | The General |
| 1965 | The Teenage Revolution |
| 1965 | The Way Out Men |
| 1965 | In Search of Man |
| 1965 | Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon |
| 1965 | Revolution in the 3 R's |
| 1965 | The Thin Blue Line |
| 1965 | In Search of Man |
| 1965 | Silent Partners |
| 1965–1966 | The March of Time |
| 1965–1975 | National Geographic Society Specials |
| 1966 | The Making of the President, 1964 |
| 1966 | Wall Street Where the Money Is |
| 1966 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House |
| 1966 | Destination Safety |
| 1966 | China: Roots of Madness |
| 1966–1968 | The World of Animals |
| 1967 | The Big Land |
| 1967 | A Nation of Immigrants |
| 1967 | Untamed World |
| 1967 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Hollywood |
| 1967 | Movin' with Nancy |
| 1967–1968 | Do Blondes Have More Fun? |
| 1967–1968 | The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau |
| 1968 | Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |
| 1968 | The Dangerous Years |
| 1968 | California |
| 1968 | With Love, Sophia |
| 1968 | Monte Carlo: C'est La Rose |
| 1968 | Sophia: A Self Portrait |
| 1968 | The Highlights of the Ice Capades 1968 |
| 1968 | On the Trail of Stanley and Livingstone |
| 1968 | Hollywood: The Selznick Years |
| 1968 | The Devil's Brigade |
| 1968 | The Making of the President, 1968 |
| 1969 | The Bridge at Remagen |
| 1969 | If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium |
| 1969 | Los Angeles: Where It's At |
| 1970 | The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy |
| 1970 | I Love My Wife |
| 1970–1972 | The Plimpton Specials |
| 1971 | Say Goodbye |
| 1971 | They've Killed President Lincoln |
| 1971 | The Hellstrom Chronicle |
| 1971 | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory |
| 1971–1973 | Appointment With Destiny |
| 1972 | King, Queen, Knave |
| 1972 | One Is a Lonely Number |
| 1972 | Here Comes Tomorrow: The Fear Fighters |
| 1972 | Republican Party Films |
| 1972 | Make Mine Red, White and Blue |
| 1972 | Top of The Month (3 half-hour specials) |
| 1972 | Of Thee I Sing |
| 1972–1973 | The Explorers |
| 1973 | The 500 Pound Jerk |
| 1973 | Wattstax |
| 1973 | Visions of Eight |
| 1973–1974 | Primal Man Specials |
| 1973–1975 | The American Heritage Specials |
| 1974 | This Week In The NBA (Series of 20 half-hours) |
| 1974 | NBA Game of the Week Featurettes |
| 1974 | Get Christie Love! |
| 1974 | Judgment Specials |
| 1974 | The Morning After |
| 1974 | Unwed Father |
| 1974 | Men of the Dragon |
| 1974 | The First Woman President |
| 1974 | Love from A to Z |
| 1974 | Birds Do It, Bees Do It |
| 1974 | The Animal Within |
| 1974 | Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus |
| 1974–1975 | Get Christie Love! |
| 1974–1975 | Smithsonian Specials |
| 1974–1975 | Sandburg's Lincoln |
| 1974–1976 | Chico and the Man |
| 1975 | Death Stalk |
| 1975 | I Will Fight No More Forever |
| 1975–1976 | Welcome Back, Kotter |
| 1976 | Brenda Starr |
| 1976 | Collision Course |
| 1976 | Celebration: The American Spirit |
| 1976 | The Unexplained |
| 1976 | Victory at Entebbe |
| 1976 | Mysteries of the Great Pyramids |
| 1977 | Roots |
| 1978 | Roots: One Year Later |
| 1978 | The Little Mermaid (Anderusen dowa: Ningyo hime or Andersen Story: The Mermaid Princess) |
| 1978 | Roots: The Next Generations |
| 1980 | The Man Who Saw Tomorrow |
| 1980 | Moviola |
| 1981 | This Is Elvis |
| 1981 | Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter |
| 1981 | Small World |
| 1981 | Murder Is Easy |
| 1982 | The Mystic Warrior |
| 1982 | Casablanca |
| 1983 | The Thorn Birds |
| 1984 | XXIIIrd Olympiad, Los Angeles 1984 |
| 1984 | His Mistress |
| 1985 | North and South |
| 1986 | North and South: Book II |
| 1986 | Liberty Weekend |
| 1987 | The Betty Ford Story |
| 1987 | Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story |
| 1988 | What Price Victory |
| 1988 | Imagine: John Lennon |
| 1988 | Roots: The Gift |
| 1989 | The Plot to Kill Hitler |
| 1989 | Murder in Mississippi |
| 1990 | Warner Bros. Celebration of Tradition, June 2, 1990 |
| 1990 | Dillinger |
| 1990 | When You Remember Me |
| 1991 | Best of the Worst |
| 1991 | Bed of Lies |
| 1992 | Celebrations |
| 1992 | Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald |
| 1993 | Celebration of a Life: Steven J. Ross Chairman of Time Warner |
| 1993 | The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? |
| 1994 | Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III |
| 1994 | On Trial |
| 1994 | Golf - The Greatest Game |
| 1994 | Heroes of the Game |
| 1994 | Without Warning |
| 1994 | Murder in the First |
| 1995 | Prince for a Day |
| 1996 | The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years |
| 1996 | Surviving Picasso |
| 1997 | L.A. Confidential |
| 1998 | Terror at the Mall |
| 1998 | Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary Show |
| 1998 | A Will of Their Own |
| 1998 | Confirmation |
| 1998 | Legends, Icons and Superstars |
| 1999 | To Serve and Protect |
| 1999 | Celebrate the Century |