Steven Bach (1940-2009)

We note with sadness the passing of film scholar Steven Bach who was a guest of the Writers Institute twice in the last two years.

Bach was both a leading film industry insider and film historian. As head of production for United Artists, he was centrally involved in the making of “Raging Bull,” “Apocalypse Now,” Woody Allen’s “Manhattan,” and dozens of other films. He was the author of four “New York Times” Notable Books, including “Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl” (2007), “Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart” (2001), “Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend” (1992), and “Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven’s Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists” (1985). The “Los Angeles Times Book Review” called “Leni,” “Brilliant. … A compulsively readable and scrupulously crafted work . …” Writing in the “New Yorker,” Judith Thurman said, “First-rate . . . [a] richly fleshed-out portraiture and social history.”Steven Bach taught Literature and Film at both Columbia University in New York and Bennington College in Vermont.

See our blog entry on Steven Bach's April 2007 visit and a video excerpt from his visit in October 2008 and also his visit of April 2007.