John Houseman

Film Producer

Birthday September 22, 1902

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace Romania

DEATH DATE Oct 31, 1988 (86)

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About

Remembered best for his work with the renowned American director and actor Orson Welles, this Romanian-born theater, film, and radio producer and occasional actor worked on Welles' 1937 Broadway production of Cradle Will Rock and earned an Oscar nomination for producing a 1953 film version of Julius Caesar.

Before Fame

After studying at Clifton College in England and subsequently working as a grain merchant, he moved to the United States and began his career as a Broadway producer.

Trivia

He produced the infamously panic-inducing 1938 radio production of The War of the Worlds.

Family Life

Born Jacques Haussmann in Bucharest, Romania, he grew up as the son of a Jewish-French father and a Christian-British mother. After his brief marriage to actress Zita Johann ended in divorce, he married Joan Courtney, who became the mother of his two sons.

Associated With

An actor as well as a producer, he co-starred with Lindsay Wagner in the 1973 James Bridges-directed film The Paper Chase.