Washington [US], June 2 : Martin Starger, the first president of ABC Entertainment who produced films such as 'Sophie's Choice' and Robert Altman's 'Nashville' has passed away at 92, reported Variety.
Starger died of natural causes in his Los Angeles home, his niece, casting director Ilene Starger, announced.
Starger was born May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, New York. He attended City College of New York and earned a degree in motion picture techniques.
He worked as a motion picture photographer for the US Army's film production studio. He was sent to US Army Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, and worked on all aspects of motion picture production. He wrote, directed, photographed and edited documentary and feature films for television, the Department of Defense and newsreels.
After his service, Starger worked for several years at the ABC television network. He was vice president of programs from 1969 to 1972 before becoming the first president of ABC Entertainment, where he served from 1972 to 1975.
Throughout his tenure, the network developed its "Movie of the Week" franchise, the miniseries "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man" and series like "Happy Days" and "Marcus Welby, M.D."
Starger then pursued a career in cinema and theatre. While at ABC, he championed Altman's 1975 film. He was the executive producer of 'Nashville' along with Jerry Weintraub. This started his producing career, and he eventually established his own production company, Marstar Productions. He produced or executive produced the TV movies 'Friendly Fire', 'Escape from Sobibor', 'All Quiet on the Western Front', 'The Merchant of Venice', and 'The Elephant Man'.
He received Tony nominations in 1987 and 1989 for producing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Starlight Express' and the comedy 'Lend Me a Tenor', respectively,
Starger's film credits, as a producer or executive producer, include 'Movie Movie', 'Mask', 'On Golden Pond', 'The Muppet Movie', 'The Great Muppet Caper', 'Autumn Sonata' and 'Sophie's Choice.' His Broadway credits include 'Sly Fox', 'Lend Me a Tenor', 'Starlight Express' and the original production of 'Merrily We Roll Along', reported Variety.
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