Edward Bradley Saxon (born November 17, 1956) is an American
film producer.
Early life
Saxon was born and raised in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, and educated at
Kirkwood High School from 1972 to 1976.
He studied at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
from 1976 to 1980. While at McGill, he founded the Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre with Veronica Brady and Peter Grossman, and the company is still running today. Saxon acted in many plays at the Players' Theatre, McGill's famous Red and White Review. He also founded a radio comedy troupe called The Circle Jerks.
He then studied at The Peter Stark Producing Program at the
USC School of Cinema-Television
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
.
Career
Saxon is arguably best known for the film ''
The Silence of the Lambs'', which is, to date, the third and last film to sweep the five main categories of Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. (The others are ''
It Happened One Night
''It Happened One Night'' is a 1934 pre-Code American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra, in collaboration with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite ( Claudette Colbert) tr ...
'' and ''
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''.)
Formerly
Jonathan Demme's producing partner, his films include ''
Beloved'', ''
Ulee's Gold
''Ulee's Gold'' is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Victor Nuñez and starring Peter Fonda in the title role. Co-stars include Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood, Jessica Biel, J. Kenneth Campbell and Vanessa Zima. ...
'', ''
That Thing You Do!
''That Thing You Do!'' is a 1996 American comedy film co-starring, written, and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s one-hit wonder pop band, and st ...
'', ''
The Truth About Charlie'', ''
Married to the Mob
''Married to the Mob'' is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. Pfeiffer plays Angela de Marco, a gangster's widow from B ...
'', ''
Miami Blues
''Miami Blues'' is a 1990 American neo-noir black comedy crime drama film directed by George Armitage, based on the novel of the same name by Charles Willeford. It stars Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward (who also served as an executive producer) and Jen ...
'' and ''
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
''.
After parting ways with Demme, Saxon produced
Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999), '' Adaptation'' (2002), and '' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial ...
and
Spike Jonze's ''
Adaptation.
''Adaptation'' is a 2002 American meta comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It features an ensemble cast including Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper, with Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, ...
''. He produced
Richard Linklater's ''
Fast Food Nation'' in 2006. More recent projects include ''
Away We Go
''Away We Go'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film's two leads are John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It is Mendes's first film without Thomas Newman's collaboration.
Plot
Ve ...
'', directed by
Sam Mendes, and ''
Our Family Wedding
''Our Family Wedding'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Rick Famuyiwa. It stars Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Diana-Maria Riva, Lance Gross, Charlie Murphy and Regina King. The story is about an African-A ...
'', starring
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
and
America Ferrera
America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featu ...
.
Originally an actor, Saxon was one of
VH1's first VJ's in New York City. He has made several
cameos in the films he has produced, most notably as a head in a jar in ''Silence of the Lambs''.
Filmography
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
;As an actor
;Thanks
Television
;As an actor
External links
Edward Saxon Productions*
''Adaptation''
Edward Saxon and others discuss why so many novels never make it to the big screen ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxon, Edward
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
American film producers
1956 births
Living people
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
McGill University alumni