Bert Schneider
| Bert Schneider | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Berton Schneider May 5, 1933 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 12, 2011 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Spouse(s) | Judith Feinberg (divorced); three subsequent marriages |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Abraham Schneider |
Berton "Bert" Schneider (May 5, 1933 – December 12, 2011) was an American film and television producer.
He was responsible for several topical films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the road film Easy Rider (1969), directed by Dennis Hopper.
Schneider was born to a wealthy Jewish family in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New York. His father was Abraham Schneider who succeeded Harry Cohn as the president of Columbia Pictures. He was the middle of two brothers, the younger Harold and the elder Stanley. The Schneider tended toward the rebellious politics of the day. Briefly a student at Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, he was expelled
His brother, Harold Schneider, also became a film producer.
In 1953, he worked for Screen Gems, Columbia's television division in Los Angeles. In 1965, Schneider formed a partnership with the film director Bob Rafelson, creating Raybert Productions. The duo brought to television The Monkees (1966–1968), a situation comedy about a fictional rock band (who became a real group, The Monkees, to meet public demand, and their own aspirations).
The success of The Monkees allowed Schneider and Rafelson to break into feature films, first with the counterculture film Head (1968), starring The Monkees, directed by Rafelson and featuring a screenplay co-written by Rafelson and Jack Nicholson. The film bombed in its initial release due to poor distribution and the lack of a target audience for 1968. Monkees fans were disappointed that the disjointed, stream-of-consciousness ring of stories was not just an expanded episode. Art film enthusiasts may have embraced its creativity but were not interested in a film by the "pre-fab four." In recent years, the film has received above average reviews from critics and fans alike as an interesting 1960s period piece.
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