Ephraim Katz (11 March 1932 – 2 August 1992) was a writer, journalist and filmmaker who devoted his life to gathering the information in his book, ''The Film Encyclopedia'', first published in 1979.

Biography

Katz, born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

, studied law and economics at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. He later studied political science at Hunter College, New York and cinema at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. Ephraim was a film reporter and critic in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, before moving to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1959. Residing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he made television documentaries for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, including ''The Taste of Sunday'', one of its first in color, and later for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Katz,

Quentin Reynolds Quentin James Reynolds (April 11, 1902 – March 17, 1965) was an American journalist and World War II war correspondent. He also played American football for one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Brooklyn Lions. Early life ...

, and Zwy Aldouby co-wrote the book ''Minister of Death: The Adolf Eichmann Story'' (1960), about Israel's capture of

Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

emphysema on August 2, 1992. At the time of his death, Katz was in the process of updating ''The Film Encyclopedia''. The second edition was eventually completed by two colleagues, Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolen, and released in 1994. Klein and Nolen continued to revise and update Katz's work as needed, with a 3rd edition released in 1998; a 4th edition in 2001, and a 5th edition in 2005. Nolen alone revised and issued a 6th edition of Katz's work, published in 2008. A 7th edition () was released in 2012.

Notes

External links

''New York Times'' obituary
August 8, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Ephraim 1932 births 1992 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists American military writers Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Hunter College alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni American film historians American people of Israeli descent Jewish American historians Film theorists Israeli journalists Writers from New York (state) 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers