Mark Damon (born Alan Harris; April 22, 1933 – May 12, 2024) was an American film producer and actor. In 1960, he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for his performance in

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

's ''House of Usher'', and later moved to Italy to work in

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

s. He was a member of the 1960s Dolce Vita set of actors and actresses in Rome. During the early 1970's he switched to producing films, founding the production companies Producers Sales Organization, Vision International, MDP Worldwide and Foresight Unlimited.

Early life

Mark Damon, the son of a grocer, was born Alan Harris in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. His family was

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 ...

and their surname was originally "Herscovitz". Damon moved to Los Angeles at a young age where he attended Fairfax High School. As a senior in high school, Damon was scouted as an actor by comedian

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

, but chose to attend dental school at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He switched to the Anderson School of Management, eventually graduating with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

and a BA in English. Damon also began taking theater classes and decided to pursue a career in acting.

Career

Actor

In 1956, Damon started his career in

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 ...

, signing a contract with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. In 1960, Damon won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

as a "Star of Tomorrow" for his performance in the film ''House of Usher''. He would later relocate to Italy to work in

Producer

In the mid-1970s Damon left acting to become a film producer. He entered the world of

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

sales and production while in Italy after meeting independent international distributors interested in popular American movies. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1977, he founded Producers Sales Organization (PSO), which sold American pictures to international distributors, becoming the first such company to compete with the major studios. Damon's subsequent success with PSO led to his reputation as the inventor of the foreign sales business. After PSO ran into financial problems and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1986, Damon started Vision Productions (formerly Vision Producers and Distribution Group) with Peter Guber and Jon Peters. In 1987, Vision International grew into Vision p.d.g. Vision International formed a pact with Epic Productions, where they assumed international responsibilities for the studio. In 1993, after a period of legal battling with Credit Lyonnais over the company's control of Epic, Damon started MDP Worldwide (aka Mark Damon Productions), which in 1998 was sold to Behaviour Communications, a Canadian company. In 2003, MDP Worldwide was renamed Media 8 Entertainment to expand their theatrical activity and their products. Damon resigned in 2004. Damon's productions have grossed over $2 billion in theatrical box office worldwide and have garnered 10 Oscar nominations. He has been involved in the international licensing of over 300 feature length pictures, including ''

Never Say Never Again ''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel ''Thunderball (novel), Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Wh ...

'' starring

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

, '' Prizzi's Honor'' with

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and Anjelica Huston, '' Once Upon A Time In America'' with

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

and James Woods, '' The Cotton Club'' with

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...

, and ''The Final Countdown'' starring

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. Damon was a founding member of the American Film Marketing Association (now IFTA) and is a recurring board member of the IFTA. In 2005, Damon founded the film production and sales company Foresight Unlimited. Foresight handled the international sales for the

Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...

comedy ''And So It Goes'', served as executive producer of

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

' '' 2 Guns'' starring

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and

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

, and Universal's ''Lone Survivor'', also starring

. The company was sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in 2019. In 2019, DCR Finance Group launched a $100 million film fund to produce their film organization, with Damon serving as managing partner.

Personal life and death

Damon died of natural causes in

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 2024 at the age of 91 with his wife, actress Margaret Markov, and two children by his side. He was a cousin to composer

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...

.https://www.instagram.com/p/DGgM3c6um3R/

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Foresight Unlimited

From Cowboy to Mogul to Monster: The Neverending Story of Film Pioneer Mark Damon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damon, Mark 1933 births 2024 deaths American expatriates in Italy American male film actors Film producers from Illinois Male actors from Chicago Male Spaghetti Western actors New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners American people of Jewish descent Jewish American actors