Irwin Rosten (September 10, 1924 – May 23, 2010) was an American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker who also produced several hour-long documentaries for television. He is best known for his 1975 film '' The Incredible Machine''. He was twice nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for the documentary ''Mysteries of the Mind''. Rosten was born on September 10, 1924, in Brooklyn. He began his career as a documentary filmmaker during the 1950s with the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

, where he was manager of news and public affairs. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1954, where he produced the 1958 documentary ''Thou Shalt Not Kill'' for station KNXT about

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

. He was hired by

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...

in 1956, where his documentaries included the 1963 ''Splt Image'' about internal television programming produced by patients at

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to ...

. At KTLA, Rosten produced a higholy-regarded half-hour series of commentaries by

Bill Stout William Job "Bill" Stout (September 4, 1927 – December 1, 1989) was an American journalist and sometime actor, known for his radio and television broadcasting career with CBS News. Early life and education Stout was born William Job Stout in C ...

on topics in the news. The series was titled "Line of Sight." During the 1960s, he made independent documentaries for the Wolper Organization and at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. He produced a number of one-hour nature and wildlife television specials for ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', the last of which he produced in 1991.Koppel, Niko
"Irwin Rosten, Nature Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 85"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 3, 2010. Accessed June 5, 2010. Rosten co-wrote the film narration (alongside James Dugan) for ''Conshelf Adventure'' (1966), the first film in the documentary TV series ''

The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau ''The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau'' is an American documentary television series about underwater marine life, directed by Alan Landsburg and hosted by French filmmaker, researcher, and marine explorer Jacques Cousteau. The first episode ...

'', featuring

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

Philippe Cousteau Philippe Pierre Cousteau (30 December 1940 – 28 June 1979) was a French diver, sailor, pilot, photographer, author, director and cinematographer specializing in environmental issues, with a background in oceanography. He was the second son of ...

, André Laban, Jacques Rollet, Christian Bonnici, Raymond Coll and Yves Omer. In addition to his collaboration with the Cousteau Team, Rosten produced such films as '' The Wolf Men'', his 1969 film about the hunting of timberwolves, and ''The Incredible Machine'' (1975), both of which received nominations for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...

. His 1974 film ''

Birds Do It, Bees Do It ''Birds Do It, Bees Do It'' is a 1974 American documentary film covering sexuality in the animal kingdom. It was directed by Nicolas Noxon (a regular crewmember for National Geographic's early television specials) and Irwin Rosten, and co-prod ...

'' was screened at the

1974 Cannes Film Festival The 27th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 24 May 1974. French filmmaker René Clair served as jury president for the main competition. The ''Grand Prix'', then the festival's main prize, was awarded to American filmmaker Francis Ford C ...

. He earned

s, a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

and

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

. ''The Incredible Machine'', which included some of the first pictures taken inside the human body and presented on film, ranked as the most-watched program in

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

until 1982. Rosten died at age 85 in his

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

home on May 23, 2010, due to

vascular disease Vascular disease is a class of diseases of the vessels of the circulatory system in the human body, body, including blood vessels – the arteries and veins, and the lymphatic vessels. Vascular disease is a subgroup of cardiovascular disease. Diso ...

.Nelson, Valerie J
Irwin Rosten dies at 85; award-winning documentary filmmaker
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', May 30, 2010. Accessed June 5, 2010.Emmy-winning documentarian Irwin Rosten Dies

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

press release dated May 27, 201. Accessed June 5, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Marilyn Ryan, as well as by a son, Peter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosten, Irwin 1924 births 2010 deaths Film producers from California American male screenwriters Filmmakers from Brooklyn Film directors from New York City Film directors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from New York (state) Film producers from New York (state) Screenwriters from California