Saul Zaentz ✝

Saul Zaentz (/ˈzænts/; February 28, 1921 – January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Zaentz's film production career, primarily financed by the profits from Creedence Clearwater Revival, was marked by a dedication to the adaptation of novels. A prolific reader, Zaentz typically did not produce original screenplays. His final production, Goya's Ghosts, was an exception, being an original story by Jean-Claude Carrière and Miloš Forman. Zaentz was born on February 28, 1921, in Passaic, New Jersey, the youngest of five. His parents were Polish Jewish immigrants.