Walter Seltzer(1914-2011)

The son of a motion picture exhibitor, Seltzer started out as a theatre usher before joining MGM in the 1930s where he worked on the advertising campaign for such films as Les révoltés du Bounty (1935). He served in the Marines for four years during World War II before his return to Hollywood as director of publicity for Hal B. Wallis Productions. As a full member of MGM's publicity department in the 1950s and early 60s, he was employed as a press agent. This involved supplying stories about the stars to columnists like Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. He was also prominent in successfully marketing the Academy Award-winning film Marty (1955). In 1959, he turned to film production, notably for his close friends Charlton Heston (Court Films) and Marlon Brando ( Pennebaker Productions). Some of the best product to come out of the Seltzer-Heston collaboration were the apocalyptic sci-fi classics Le survivant (1971) and Soleil vert (1973), as well as the gritty, sombre outdoor western Will Penny, le solitaire (1967). Seltzer retired in the late 1970's and became active as a fund raiser for the Motion Picture and Television Fund.