Walter Coblenz, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer behind All the President’s Men and nearly two dozen other titles, died on March 16, aged 93. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Born in Germany in 1928, Coblenz claimed his first and only Oscar nom in 1977 for the aforementioned Alan J. Pakula film, which was up for Best Picture and seven other awards, winning four including Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Art Direction-Set Decoration and Sound. Coblenz’s nomination came three years after he landed an Emmy nom for his work on NBC’s limited series The Blue Knight.
Over the course of his career, he also produced such titles as Her Majesty, Money Talks, The Babe, 18 Again!, For Keeps?, Sister, Sister, SpaceCamp, Strange Invaders, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, The Onion Field and The Candidate, along with a number of TV movies.
Coblenz began his film career as an assistant director and production manager on the feature film Downhill Racer, and at one time served as Senior Vice President of Production for both TriStar Pictures and Carolco Pictures, supervising production on over 20 major motion pictures, including The Natural, Places in the Heart, Terminator 2, The Doors and Rambling Rose.
He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served for many years on the Directors Guild of America’s Special Projects Committee, which oversaw educational and cultural programs for members, the industry and the academic world.
Coblenz is remembered as a generous and tireless mentor to many in the industry, and a loving husband to Rita (née Bellisle) Coblenz. He is survived by his son Martin Coblenz and his wife Eden, who are parents to his grandson Evan; his daughter Helen Iacabucci and her husband Rick, parents of grandchildren, Danielle, Jordan and Anthony; and his son John Coblenz.
