Leonard Solomon Blum (born December 29, 1951) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer and

film composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

Early life

Blum was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He attended

Westdale Secondary School Westdale Secondary School is a public high school founded in 1931 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is a school in the city of Hamilton and is located in Westdale Village, a suburb in the west-end of the city. It is administered by the Hamilton- ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

. He later graduated from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1975.

Career

He has written many films, specializing in comedy, including ''

Meatballs A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, egg (food), eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. ...

'', '' Stripes'', '' Heavy Metal'', '' Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone'', '' Beethoven's 2nd'', '' Private Parts'', ''

The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Clouseau, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the fil ...

'' remake and ''

Over the Hedge ''Over the Hedge'' is a 2006 American animated heist comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG. Based on the comic strip of the same name, the film was directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick from a screenplay by Len Blum, ...

''. Prior to his film career, early on he was a rock musician and songwriter did studio productions, produced radio commercials. In 2015, the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

created a screenwriter's residency program named after Blum, specifically for up and coming Canadian screenwriters to develop their projects. The inaugural resident was

Stephen Dunn Stephen Elliot Dunn (June 24, 1939June 24, 2021) was an American poet and educator who authored twenty-one collections of poetry. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 2000 collection, ''Different Hours,'' and received an Academy Award i ...

. In 2016,

Andrew Cividino Andrew Cividino (born 1983) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter."Big buzz at Cannes for Canadian auteur's coming-of-age yarn". ''Montreal Gazette'', May 22, 2015. He is best known for his feature film directorial debut '' Sleeping Giant' ...

was announced as the new resident.

Accolades

He won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay, in 1980, for the film ''

''.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''.

Stoddart Publishing Stoddart Publishing was a Canadian book publisher and distributor, owned by Jack Stoddart, which ceased operations in 2002. History In 1967, General Publishing purchased the Musson imprint, based in Canada, from British publisher Hodder & Stough ...

, 2000. .

Personal life

He has been married to

Heather Munroe-Blum Heather Anne Elyse Lilian Munroe-Blum (born August 25, 1950) is a Canadian academic and businesswoman. Biography She is the former principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She is also a member of the board of dir ...

since 1970, with whom he has a daughter, Sydney.

Filmography

*''

'' (with Dan Goldberg and

Harold Ramis Harold Allen Ramis ( ; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His film acting roles include Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell Ziskey in '' St ...

) (1979) *'' Stripes'' (with Dan Goldberg and

) (1981) *'' Heavy Metal'' (with Dan Goldberg) (1981) *'' Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone'' (with Dan Goldberg) (1983) *'' Feds'' (with Dan Goldberg) (1988) *'' Beethoven's 2nd'' (1993) *'' Dream Tower'' (with

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film film director, director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass (1999 film), Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Furt ...

and Bill Schroeder) (1994) *'' Private Parts'' (1997) *''

'' (with

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

) (2006) *''

'' (with Lorne Cameron,

David Hoselton David Hoselton is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on the television series ''House'' and the animated films ''Over the Hedge'' and ''Brother Bear''. Biography Hoselton attended the University of Toronto La ...

, and

Karey Kirkpatrick Karey Kirkpatrick (born December 14, 1964) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. His films include ''Chicken Run'', '' The Rescuers Down Under'', '' James and the Giant Peach,'' '' Over the Hedge'', ''The Spiderwick Chronic ...

) (2006) *'' Altman'' (2014) *''Summer of Love'' (2018) *'' Carmine Street Guitars'' (2018) directed by Ron Mann

References

External links

*
Len Blum fonds (R497)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

1951 births Film producers from Quebec Canadian film score composers Canadian male film score composers Canadian male screenwriters Jewish Canadian screenwriters Jewish Canadian musicians McMaster University alumni Living people Musicians from Montreal Writers from Montreal Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Screenwriters from Quebec {{Canada-film-producer-stub