Sandor Stern (born July 13, 1936) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
writer, director and film producer best known for his horror films.
Personal life
Born in the northern Canadian town of
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ex ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
; raised in the small town of
Prescott, Ontario
Prescott, Ontario is a small town on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Canada. In 2021, the town had a population of 4,078. The Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge, east of Pres ...
, on the
St. Lawrence River; Sandor Stern was drawn to short story writing while in high school and began writing stage plays while attending the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
. Though he planned to obtain a degree in teaching, a physician-uncle suggested that medicine might offer more involving experiences for an aspiring writer. Heeding that advice, Stern enrolled in Medical School at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
. During his schooling, he continued to write, switching to TV scripts, and selling his first script to the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...
prior to his graduation in 1961. Three of his four sons formed the successful
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...
band
Youth Brigade, and its almost 30-year-old record label
Better Youth Organization.
Career
Setting up a private practice in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
, Stern continued to write; adding songwriting and variety sketch writing to his credits. Over the next five years, he wrote numerous shows for the
CBC until demand for his work allowed him to give up the practice of medicine and devote full time to writing. He wrote the
CTV
CTV may refer to:
Television
* Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet
North America and South America
* CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media
** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
network's first drama ''Rumble of Silence'' (1968) and created the CBC network's medical series ''
Corwin'' (1969). Deciding to try his luck in Hollywood, Stern arrived in LA and immediately landed an assignment to write an episode of
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 ...
's ''
The Bold Ones''. He quickly moved on to other episodic dramas such as ''
Ironside'' (1969) and onto producing with ''
The Mod Squad
''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III ...
'' (1971) and ''
Doc Elliot'' (1973). His TV movie producing began in 1974 with ''The Strange and Deadly Occurrence''. In 1979, ''The Seeding of Sarah Burns'' was his first directing assignment. He created the short-lived 1983
CBS TV series ''
Cutter to Houston''. Since then he has written and/or directed more than 35 movies, including the screenplays for three feature films: ''
The Amityville Horror
''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, ...
'' (1979), ''
Fast Break'' (1979) (winner of the 1979
NAACP Image Award
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
for best screenplay) and ''
Pin'' (which he also directed).
Stern is married to Kandy Stern, an artist,
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
and producer with whom he co-wrote and co-produced the NBC movie ''Deception: A Mother's Secret'' (1991) and co-produced the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...
cable movie ''Jericho Fever'' (1993). His recent credits include co-writing the
Lifetime
Lifetime may refer to:
* Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey
* ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band
* ...
cable movie ''You Belong To Me'' (2007) and his first novel, ''The Life and Adventures of Ralph, The Cat'' was published in 2008. His short story, "My Grandfather Clock" was published in the anthology, "Canadian Voices" in 2009. His anthology of short stories, "The Karma Chronicles" was published in 2010. His recent writings are under the title Dear Republican Friends for suicidegirlsblog.com.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Sandor
Canadian television writers
Writers from Timmins
Jewish Canadian writers
Living people
1936 births
University of Toronto alumni
Canadian people of Jewish descent