Mel Stuart

Mel Stuart, (born Stuart Solomon) (September 2, 1928 – August 9, 2012), was an American film director and producer, who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance.

Career

Stuart directed the fantasy-musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He has directed other features, including If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), One is a Lonely Number (1972) and Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135 (2000).

Stuart also directed feature documentaries including Four Days in November and Wattstax.

In addition he has directed or produced over 180 films including movies of the week, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, Bill, The Chisholms, and Ruby and Oswald, the television series Ripley's Believe it Not, and the documentaries The Making of the President 1960, 1964, and 1968, The Hobart Shakespeareans, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Man Ray — The Prophet of the Avant-Garde, George Plimpton and the Philharmonic and The Poet's View. He won awards for the made for TV production Bill, starring Mickey Rooney

Awards

He was awarded four Emmy awards, an Academy Award nomination, a Peabody, and Golden Globe and numerous other awards. Stuart also served as president of the International Documentary Association for two years.

Personal life

Stuart was born to Edgar and Cecille Solomon, he graduated New York University in 1949, and worked for an advertising company, Stuart married his first wife Harriet Rosalind Dolin on August 12, 1956. They have three children: Madeline, Peter, and Andrew. Madeline and Peter make appearances in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Stuart and Dolin divorced in 1979. He married his second wife Roberta Silberman in the 1980s, and they stayed together until her death in 2011.

Death

On August 9, 2012, Stuart died at the age of 83 from cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his three children from his first marriage, Andrew, Madeleine, and Peter Stuart, Stuart was also survived by two grandchildren, Maximilian Stuart and Eleanor Stuart.

Selected filmography

• Four Days in November (1964)
• If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
• I Love My Wife (1970)
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• One is a Lonely Number (1972)
• Wattstax (1974)
• Brenda Starr (1976) (TV)
• Welcome Back, Kotter (1977) (TV)
• Ruby and Oswald (1978) (TV)
• Mean Dog Blues (1978)
• The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal (1979)
• The Chisholms (1980) (TV)
• Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980) (TV)
• The White Lions (1981)