Preacher's Wife - CastCrew 8

SAMUEL GOLDWYN, JR. (Produced by) was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn and Frances Howard, a former actress. After growing up in Hollywood he attended the University of Virginia, where he majored in English and drama. After enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II, Goldwyn was later commissioned and served as an infantry officer. After the war, he worked in England for J. Arthur Rank Productions as a writer and associate producer. In 1950, Goldwyn was recalled to military service and assigned to the staff of Eisenhower where he produced and directed documentary films, including "Alliance For Peace," which won first prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival. In 1952, Goldwyn returned to the United States and worked in television as a producer and director, including a stint at CBS news under Edward R. Murrow. Goldwyn later co-produced the documentary series "Adventure," which won a Peabody Award. In 1955, he set out on his own forming an independent production company. Among the films produced by Goldwyn were "Man With a Gun" (1955) with Robert Mitchum, "Sharkfighters" (1956), "The Proud Rebel" (1958) with Alan Ladd and Olivia De Havilland, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1960), and "The Young Lovers" (1965) which he also directed. In the early 1970s, Goldwyn produced two successful comedies, "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (1970) and "Come Back Charleston Blue" (1972), forerunners of the so-called "black film cycle."

Founded in 1979, The Samuel Goldwyn Company grew out of his vision for a motion picture company with the scope of a major studio and the heart of an old-fashioned family business. He used more than 50 classic American films owned by the original company as building blocks for the multi-tiered organization existing today. Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., now presides over a company whose activities encompass feature film development, production, distribution and exhibition, as well as development of first-run television product, television film packaging and syndication—Goldwyn Entertainment Company—which has now become a part of Metromedia International. Goldwyn's keen eye for talent has launched the careers of many writers, directors, producers and actors, including Nicholas Hytner, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Roberts, Jim Jarmush, Ang Lee, Jim Carrey, Robert Townsend, and Anthony Minghella. Goldwyn has been responsible for producing or distributing such pictures as "The Golden Seal" (1983); "Stranger Than Paradise" (1984); "Sic & Nancy" (1986); "A Prayer For the Dying" (1987); "Hollywood Shuffe" (1987); "Mystic Pizza" (1988); "Henry V" (1989); "Longtime Companion" (1990); "Hotel Terminus" (1990); "La Femme Nikita" (1991); "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (1991); "The Wedding Banquet" (1993); "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993); "Eat Drink, Man Woman" (1994); "To Live" (1994); "The Madness of King George" (1994); "Angels & Insects" (1996); "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996); "American Buffalo" (1996); and "Big Night" (1996). Additionally, in 1987 and 1988, Goldwyn took on the monumental task of producing the 59th and 60th annual Academy Awards shows. He received an Emmy for Best Variety-Music Programming for the 60th Academy Awards telecast.

Goldwyn also serves as President of The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation, a non-profit organization whose primary interest is in education. The foundation sponsors a yearly writing award at UCLA which has been the spawning ground for a number of successful screenwriters. Among other things, the foundation constructed the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, rebuilt the Hollywood Public Library in memory of Frances Howard Goldwyn and created the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation Children's Center, a day care center which caters to employees of the Entertainment Industry. The success of the center has been such that construction is underway to expand its capacity. Besides receiving an Emmy and numerous Academy Awards and award nominations for Goldwyn films, Goldwyn is an officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters and recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award for ShowEast, the Association of American Exhibitors. He has also served on the Board of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for eight years.

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