Eliot Hyman (1904–1980) was an American film executive who helped co-found Seven Arts Productions.

Biography

Hyman entered the film production business in 1948, when he co-founded Associated Artists. He became the sole owner of Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) two years later. In 1954, he began syndicating films to television through a.a.p., acquiring the entire library of 750 feature films of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

made before 1950, as well as 1,500 short subjects and 337 ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

''/''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' cartoon shorts also from Warner Bros. and the

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. He also began investing in films, including two major films of the director John Huston, ''

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...

'' (1953) and ''

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'' (1956). He helped fund and played an important role in the financing of the first horror film from Hammer Film Productions, '' The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957). In 1958 Hyman sold Associated Artists Productions to

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

and became President of United Artists Associated, for whom he bought the screen rights to several successful theatrical properties, e.g. plays and musicals, that became major films, including "

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

", " The World of Suzie Wong", and " Two for the Seesaw". He also produced other motion pictures for theater exhibition through other companies that he formed. In 1960 Hyman went on his own again to form Seven Arts Productions and engaged in worldwide distribution of feature films for television. At the same time Seven Arts directly financed and produced a number of films, including ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...

'' (1962), '' What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' (1962), and '' Seven Days in May'' (1964). He also guided Seven Arts into stage production, including Broadway presentations of " The Night of the Iguana", " Funny Girl", "The Owl and the Pussycat" and several other shows. From November 1966 to July 1967, Seven Arts and Warner Bros. were merged, and the company became Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. Hyman was the chairman of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts from 1967 to 1969. In 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was sold to

Kinney National Company Kinney Services Inc. was an American conglomerate company that existed from 1961 to 1972. Kinney Services was established as a holding company and originated from a joint venture between a funeral business and parking company. After Mergers and ...

which dropped the Seven Arts name. Hyman retired from the company and became a private investor.Eliot Hyman, 75; Produced Movies
, ''New York Times'' July 25, 1980 Film producer Kenneth Hyman is his son.

References

1904 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1900s-stub Film producers from Connecticut