While at USC, Ruddy accompanied his girlfriend, who was employed on one of
Roger Corman's first movies, to
Palm Springs and ended up becoming the art director for
The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955). After a short stint at
Warner Brothers, Ruddy moved on to become a programmer trainee at the
RAND Corporation in
Santa Monica, California. Returning to entertainment, Ruddy became a television writer at
Universal Studios, but left when Marlon Brando Sr., father of the actor
Marlon Brando, hired him to produce
Wild Seed (1965), which was produced by Brando Jr.'s
Pennebaker Productions. In 1972, he produced
The Godfather, an adaptation of
Mario Puzo's
novel. During the development of
The Godfather, Ruddy held secret meetings with
Joseph Colombo, Colombo's son, and 1,500 delegates of the
Italian-American Civil Rights League, which led to him gaining trust that the film would not stereotype or defame Italians. The film was nominated for eleven
Academy Awards and won three – including Ruddy's first of two Oscars for Best Picture. In 1974, Ruddy produced an adaptation of his own story treatment as
The Longest Yard. The following year, Ruddy produced director and animator
Ralph Bakshi's
satirical film
Coonskin (1975). In 1976, he produced a
western made-for-TV movie called
The Macahans, which was subsequently developed into the series
How the West Was Won (1977–1979). The film also features a rare on-screen cameo by Ruddy in a scene spoofing his film
The Godfather, and including
Godfather supporting actors
Alex Rocco and
Abe Vigoda. In 1985, after leaving Golden Harvest, Ruddy and
Andre Morgan set up the Ruddy Morgan Organization which produced films budgeted for the $8.5-16 million range, and arranged the financing and developing of "high-visibility" pictures the company placed up. Among their productions was the 1990 release
Impulse, directed by
Sondra Locke. In the early 1990s, with
Leslie Greif,
Paul Haggis and Christopher Canaan, he co-created the successful series
Walker, Texas Ranger. In 2004, Ruddy produced
Million Dollar Baby, which earned him his second Oscar for Best Picture. He shared the award with fellow producers
Paul Haggis,
Tom Rosenberg, and
Clint Eastwood. Eastwood had presented Ruddy with the Best Picture Oscar for
The Godfather over 30 years earlier. In late 2015, it was announced that he had acquired the rights to Rand's
Atlas Shrugged and would be making a movie for worldwide release. In 2021, his daughter Alexandra Ruddy became co-principal at Albert S. Ruddy Productions. ==Personal life==