Bert Schneider dies at 78

Film producer Bert Schneider, who was behind key films of the late 1960s and '70s including "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," "The Last Picture Show" and "Days of Heaven" with the likes of Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson and brought "The Monkees" to TV, died Monday, Dec. 12, of natural causes in Los Angeles. He was 78. Schneider also earned a best documentary Oscar in 1975 for "Hearts and Minds." In his book "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls," Peter Biskind called Schneider "the eminence grise of the American New Wave." Raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., Berton Schneider was the son of Columbia Pictures president Abraham Schneider but had a rebellious streak that saw him expelled from Cornell U. in the early '50s. Bert Schneider started his entertainment career in the early 1960s at Screen Gems, Columbia's TV division. He and Rafelson teamed to form Raybert Prods. in 1965 and brought "The Monkees" to NBC the next year; the pair shared an Emmy for the sitcom about a fictional rock band in 1967 and then brought the band to the bigscreen the following year in the counterculture, stream-of-consciousness film "Head," penned by Rafelson and Nicholson, directed by Rafelson and exec produced by Schneider. Though the anarchic film was not a success at the time with either conventional fans of the Monkees or arthouse audiences, it later gained a cult following and some critical appreciation; in any event, money from the success of the Monkees (related merchandise generated sales of $20 million or so in 1966) enabled the group's further cinematic explorations. Schneider paid $350,000 for the rights to the biker pic that would become "Easy Rider," a significant box office hit in 1969 that helped usher in what is now called the New Hollywood. Schneider took the project in hand and made sure it was edited (by Henry Jaglom rather than director Dennis Hopper), ensuring the film's completion and release. In "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls," Biskind quotes Brooke Hayward, Hopper's first wife, as saying, "Bert was the heroic savior of that movie. Without him, there would never have been an 'Easy Rider.'" Next came the groundbreaking Rafelson-directed "Five Easy Pieces," starring Nicholson, in 1970. With the addition of partner Steve Blauner, Schneider and Rafelson's company became BBS Prods. (for Bert, Bob and Steve). They turned out Peter Bogdanovich's seminal "The Last Picture Show" (1971) as well as Nicholson's directing debut, "Drive, He Said"; Henry Jaglom's first film, "A Safe Place"; and the Peter Davis-directed docu "Hearts and Minds," which explored the complexities in the attitudes of Vietnam War protesters. In his acceptance speech Schneider read a "message of peace" to the American people from the North Vietnamese delegation to the peace talks then under way in Paris, angering many members of the Motion Picture Academy establishment. Schneider also produced Richard Patterson's documentary on Charlie Chaplin "The Gentleman Tramp"; as a member of the Academy's board of governors, he was instrumental in the Academy's decision to bestow a lifetime achievement award on Chaplin and organized his return to the U.S. to receive it. He also exec produced Jaglom's "Tracks" and produced "Days of Heaven" (1978), from Terrence Malick, who had earlier worked on Nicholson's "Drive, He Said." Schneider's last producing credit came on the little-seen 1981 Michie Gleason film "Broken English." Peter Fonda based his character in Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey," record producer Terry Valentine, partly on Schneider, according to Fonda's interview on the DVD for that film. In 2010 the Criterion Collection put out the seven-film box set "America Lost and Found: The BBS Story," including "Head," "Easy Rider" and "Five Easy Pieces." Schneider was deeply involved in progressive causes including the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam war movements and gave financial and public support to groups such as the Black Panther Party. He was a founding board member of Medical Aid to El Salvador. Schneider remained close to Nicholson over the years, even staying at his house for long periods. Schneider's late brothers Stanley and Harold were also associated with Columbia Pictures, with the former serving as president of the studio like their father. He was married first to Judith Feinberg and later to Greta Ronningen; third wife Ariane died soon after their marriage. Survivors include his two children with Judy, Audrey Simon and Jeffrey Schneider, as well as four grandchildren. Friends may contact one of the family directly at rulebook@youaretoo.net or 424-234-6799. Donations may made be made to the Abbie Hoffman Activist Foundation, P.O. Box 908, NY, NY 10156. Contact Carmel Dagan at carmel.dagan@variety.com