Silver Surfer
Veteran
Martin Bregman, the producer of such iconic films as Scarface and Serpico, passed away at the age of 92 this weekend. His passing was due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
Bregman was one of New York’s most prominent film producers and is also credited with having discovered a young Al Pacino in an off-Broadway play in the late ‘60s. It was Bregman who helped Pacino get his career off the ground, landing the young actor his first role in a feature film with the 1971 drama Panic in Needle Park. The two later worked together in numerous projects, including Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Sea of Love (1989).
The producer married his wife, actress Cornelia Sharpe, in 1981. In the early '90s, Bregman partnered with Michael Caine, and they established their very own production company, M&M Productions. The two went on to make Michael Caine's 1992 thriller Blue Ice with the company. Other films Bregman produced include Matilda (1996) and The Bone Collector (1999). He also dabbled in television production, serving as the executive producer on the 1984 TV series The Four Seasons. His most recent project was producing the Antoine Fuqua-directed Scarface, which is currently in development through Universal Pictures with Diego Luna as the film’s lead.
Bregman’s career was certainly an impressive one, and if it were not for his discovery and support of Al Pacino, the American film industry would be without one of its finest actors. Bregman made vital contributions to both the crime thriller and gangster genres, and his films Serpico, Scarface, and Carlito’s Way have gone down in history as amongst the most memorable works not only of these two genres, but also of the cinematic art as a whole.
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