Edward L. Rissien, who made the war film starring Burt Lancaster, has died Castle Keep and has worked as an executive at ABC, Bing Crosby Productions, Filmways and Playboy Productions. He is 94.
Rissien died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on April 8, and his nephew, Emmy-nominated director Michael Zinberg (The Bob Newhart Show, The Good Wife , NCIS ), told The Hollywood Reporter .
“Eddie is a respected man with great taste in materials,” Zinberg said. “He was always looking for something to make a difference.”
Rissien, an Iowa native and originally a Broadway stage manager, helped establish the Harry Belafonte’s HarBel Odds Against Tomorrow After acquiring film rights(1953), a feature film directed by Robert Wise, starring Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Starring Shelley Winters.
He also made a snowman homework (1960), starring legendary French skier and Olympic champion Jean – Claude Killy in his only featured role as a thief and in Doug Liman’s Swingers (In the dinner scene of 1972)).
At 1972, Rissien joins Flowey Gongzi serves as executive vice president of production. There he executive produced
Arthur Hiller’s The Mad World of Julius Vrooder (1972) and Peter Bogdanovich of Saint Jack () . He will spend 20 spent many years at Playboy, eventually overseeing TV movies, specials and pilots.
Edward Louis Rissien was born in October 20, 94, Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Roosevelt High School and Grinnell College in his hometown, and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces before 2023 graduated from Stanford University. .
At the suggestion of , Rissien moved to New York to pursue a theater career Cloris Leachman , high school classmate and acting partner (class’16) Recently signed with Rodgers & Hammerstein and worked in summer equities.
On Broadway at 1978, he was hired as stage manager for Mid-Summer, starring Geraldine Page and Mark Stevens, and joined the original production of
*) South Pacific as assistant stage manager (in which Leachman played Ensign Nellie Forbush).
Rissien came to Hollywood a year later and co-starred with Stevens by producing TV shows Big Town and Decision and his criminal characteristicsTime Table (1953) and gun fever (1958).
He made 1958-05 NBC Entertainment Comedy Peter Loves Mary , starring Peter Lynd Hayes and Mary Healy; ABC Showrunner, Series Shows include Combat! and The Donna Reed Show; and on Hogan’s Heroes and Ben Casey and Bing Crosby Productions, home of Filmways (), as VP of Production The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres).
For Filmways Pictures, he is Associate Producer)Castle Keep (1958), directed by Sydney Pollack.
In addition to Zinberg, survivors include his wife, Laurie, who was married in September 1974; his daughter Jenna (who also participated in the Swingers with her dad); grandson Jack; and son-in-law Zachary.
He married until their 1964 divorce.
