Early life He was born to a Jewish family in Szilágysomlyó,
Austria-Hungary (now
Șimleu Silvaniei, Romania). His father was a town clerk and Pasternak was one of 11 children. In 1920, he immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and stayed with an uncle in Philadelphia. He worked in a factory, punching holes in leather belts, and did a variety of other jobs. He also studied acting in New York.
Assistant director In 1922, Pasternak gained a job as a busboy at
Paramount's
Astoria studio in Queens, New York City at $8 a week; after a year, he was head waiter and making $120 per week, including tips.
Germany In 1928, Universal sent Pasternak to Europe as an associate producer to work on German-language films for the international market. Pasternak produced a series of movies directed by, and often starring,
William Dieterle:
The Brandenburg Arch in 1929 with
Paul Henckels and
June Marlowe;
Triumph of Love and
Silence in the Forest also in 1929;
Rustle of Spring and
Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, a drama, both in 1930, and
One Hour of Happiness in 1931. Pasternak also produced three films directed by
Edmund Heuberger and starring
Eddie Polo:
Secret Police (1929),
Witnesses Wanted (1930), and
Of Life and Death (1930). Other Pasternak films included
The Daredevil Reporter (1929), written by
Billy Wilder, starring
Eddie Polo and directed by
Ernst Laemmle;
Next, Please! (1930) directed by
Erich Schönfelder;
Two People (1930) with
Charlotte Susa directed by
Erich Waschneck;
The Great Longing (1930), directed by
Steve Sekely;
Seitensprünge (
Infidelity, 1931); ''
Ich geh' aus und Du bleibst da (The Inconstant: I go out and you stay here
in German and French, 1931); Der Storch streikt (The Stork Strikes
, 1931); The Night Without Pause (1931) with Sig Arno co-directed by Andrew Marton; Bobby geht los (Bobby goes off
, 1931); A Tremendously Rich Man (1932); Five from the Jazz Band (1932) directed by Erich Engel; and The Rebel'' (1932), a historical epic directed by
Curtis Bernhardt,
Edwin H. Knopf and star
Luis Trenker. Pasternak shot
Secret Agent (1932) and
Johnny Steals Europe (1932) both with
Harry Piel, then
A Tremendously Rich Man (1932) with director
Steve Sekely,
Die unsichtbare Front (
The Invisible Secretary, 1933) and
Pardon, tévedtem (
Excuse me, I was wrong, 1933). (Note translations are basic, not officially approved titles.)
Hungary When Hitler came to power in Germany, Pasternak moved to Hungary. There he did a series of films starring
Franciska Gaal:
Romance in Budapest (1933) with Sekely (also shot in German as
Scandal in Budapest);
A Precocious Girl (1934), directed by
Max Neufeld and
Richard Eichberg;
Spring Parade (1934);
Peter (1934) directed by
Henry Koster;
Little Mother (1934) (later remade in Hollywood as
Bachelor Mother); and
Catherine the Last (1936).
Universal in Hollywood from
Johnny Grant with
Gene Kelly on the left on July 29, 1991. Universal recalled Pasternak, giving him a $500 a week contract. He brought back
Henry Koster with him and the two men set about making the sort of movie they had in Europe. "No one's going to get sick or die in my pictures", Pasternak said at the time. "That's no form of entertainment." He followed it with two more Durbin films,
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), directed by Koster, and
Mad About Music (1938), directed by
Norman Taurog. In 1938, Pasternak did a comedy,
Youth Takes a Fling, then was back with Durbin for
That Certain Age (1938), and
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939). In all, Pasternak made ten films with Durbin. Pasternak soon discovered soprano
Gloria Jean, who began her own series in 1939, starting with
The Under-Pup (1939). He produced Durbin again in
First Love (1939). He had a large hit with the comedy Western
Destry Rides Again (1939), starring
Marlene Dietrich and
James Stewart, which helped revitalise Dietrich's career. Pasternak alternated among the three female stars. With Durbin, he did ''
It's a Date (1940), Spring Parade (1940) (a remake of his 1934 film), Nice Girl? (1940) and It Started with Eve (1941). With Jean, he did A Little Bit of Heaven (1940), a sort of sequel to The Under-Pup
. With Dietrich, he did Seven Sinners (1940) (with John Wayne) and The Flame of New Orleans'' (1941). In June 1941, after finishing
Eve, Pasterrnak left Universal. Although he still had two years to run on his contract, he had "differences of opinion" with the studio's management, and by mutual consent, the parties elected to terminate the contract. Pasternak later sat on the executive committee and came to be regarded as one of the three most important persons in the company, alongside
Louis B. Mayer and Vice President Sam Katz. At MGM, he continued to produce operetta films, starting with
Seven Sweethearts (1942) starring Grayson, and
Presenting Lily Mars (1943) starring
Judy Garland. Both films were successful at the box-office. Pasternak followed these with
Thousands Cheer (1943) with Grayson and
Gene Kelly, which was a huge hit;
Song of Russia (1944), a musical which later became problematic because of its pro-Russian viewpoint;
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) with
June Allyson,
Van Johnson and
Gloria DeHaven, and
Music for Millions (1944) with Allyson and
Margaret O'Brien. All these films were hits. Pasternak was responsible for
Esther Williams' first vehicle
Thrill of a Romance (1945); it made over $3 million in profits. Similarly well received by audiences was
Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Grayson,
Gene Kelly and
Frank Sinatra. Pasternak also made several non-musical romantic comedy hits, including
Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) with
Hedy Lamarr and
Robert Walker, and
No Leave, No Love (1946) with Johnson. Pasternak bounced back with
In the Good Old Summertime (1949) with Garland and Johnson, and introduced
Mario Lanza in
That Midnight Kiss with Kathryn Grayson, which was a solid hit.
Nancy Goes to Rio with Powell, a remake of ''It's a Date
, made a minor loss. In 1950, The Toast of New Orleans with Grayson was a solid hit, as was Duchess of Idaho with Williams. Pasternak produced the final Judy Garland film at MGM, Summer Stock in 1950, co-starring Gene Kelly, and then had the biggest hit of his career to date with The Great Caruso (1951), a vehicle for Mario Lanza which made almost $4 million in profit for the studio. Pasternak had two big flop musicals, The Opposite Sex (1956), a remake of The Women (1939) with Allyson, and Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) with Dean Martin. Also unsuccessful was the Jean Simmons comedy This Could Be the Night'' (also 1957). It was then time for a change.
Euterpe In April 1956, Pasternak left MGM after 14 years. He set up the independent production company Euterpe with Sam Katz. They made an agreement with
Columbia to finance their films, and announced several projects:
The Chiselers starring
Alan Ladd;
Three Blondes;
Gidget, based on
the novel by
Frederick Kohner; and
Nora, an original screenplay by
Felix Jackson. However Euterpe and Columbia could not come to terms and dissolved their agreement in November 1957. Pasternak set up Euterpe back at MGM. He was an immediate success, turning out four hits in a row: a highly regarded thriller,
Party Girl (1958), with
Robert Taylor and
Cyd Charisse; two comedies with
David Niven:
Ask Any Girl (1959) with
Shirley MacLaine and ''
Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) with Day; and a teen comedy, Where the Boys Are'' (1960), which introduced a group of new stars:
George Hamilton,
Dolores Hart,
Yvette Mimieux,
Connie Francis,
Jim Hutton, and
Paula Prentiss. In the 1960s, Pasternak produced a mix of hits and misses. He reunited Hutton and Prentiss in
The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962), but it was not as popular as
Boys. Then he had a failure with ''
Billy Rose's Jumbo'' (1962) starring Day, which lost almost $4 million.
20th Century Fox In 1967, Pasternak left MGM and became affiliated with
20th Century Fox, but made only one film for Fox,
The Sweet Ride (1968). Pasternak had a stroke before filming, and
Sweet Ride would turn out to be his last film. In 1968, he was also stricken with
Parkinson's disease. He recovered slightly two years later but made no more films. He said at the time: "I am proud that I have produced 105 pictures and not one of them is adults only." In 1980, he estimated his films had earned $400 million. "If I had a percentage I'd be the richest man in town", he said. His career as a film producer spanned 40 years and earned him two
Oscar nominations and three
Golden Globe Award nominations. He retired in 1968. ==Personal==