Aaron Russo
Aaron Russo | |
|---|---|
| File:Aaron russo-cannes.jpg Russo promoting his film America: Freedom to Fascism | |
| Born | February 14, 1943 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2007 (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Music manager, film producer, libertarian politician and activist |
Aaron Russo (February 14, 1943 – August 24, 2007) was an American entertainment businessman, film producer, director, and political activist. He was best known for producing movies including Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose. Later in life, he created various libertarian-leaning political documentaries including Mad as Hell and America: Freedom to Fascism.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Russo was born in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York, on Long Island,[1] Russo worked for his family's undergarment business.[2][3] He played prep football at Lawrence High School.[4]
Entertainment career
[edit | edit source]In April 1968, Russo opened the nightclub Kinetic Playground in Chicago, Illinois, originally naming it the Electric Theater. He booked numerous prominent rock groups and musicians at the club such as The Grateful Dead, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Vanilla Fudge, Rotary Connection, and The Who.[2][3]
In addition to owning his own nightclub, Russo managed several musical acts throughout the 1970s including The Manhattan Transfer and Bette Midler.[5]
Russo then moved into producing and directing movies, which received six Academy Award nominations; two of the films received multiple Golden Globe Award nominations.[6] His first producing credit was for Midler's Clams on the Half-Shell Revue. Other notable feature films he produced include The Rose (1979), starring Midler, and also Trading Places (1983), starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.[2] His final film would be America: Freedom to Fascism, a political documentary critical of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve System and warning about the coming of the New World Order.
In 1987, Aaron Russo had set up his own entertainment company, Aaron Russo Entertainment with self-financing so they would not have to disclose the participants' contributions to the production kitty, and all of the ARE productions were gone to Orion Pictures for the U.S. and Canada theatrical rights. He then named Irwin Russo as senior vice president of the Los Angeles-based Aaron Russo Films and the company had set up feature projects by 1988, with record division Aaron Russo Films and Aaron Russo Television set to follow.[7]
Political career
[edit | edit source]Russo became involved in political issues in the mid-1990s when he produced and starred in the documentary entitled Mad As Hell in which he criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the federal government's war on drugs, the concept of a National Identity Card, and government regulation of alternative medicine.[8]
In 1998, Russo took his political interests to a higher level, running for governor of the state of Nevada as a Republican. Placing second in the Republican primary with 26% of the vote to candidate Kenny Guinn, Russo later endorsed the Democratic nominee, then-Las Vegas mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who would eventually lose to Guinn.[citation needed] Russo was planning to run again for Nevada governor in 2002 as either an independent or Libertarian, but was sidelined by cancer.
In January 2004, Russo declared his candidacy for the President of the United States initially as an independent, but then as a Libertarian. At the Libertarian National Convention in May 2004, Russo received 258 votes to Michael Badnarik's 256 votes and Gary Nolan's 246 votes, short of the majority required to receive the presidential nomination. Russo would eventually lose the nomination on the convention's third and final ballot to Badnarik by a vote of 423–344.
Death
[edit | edit source]On August 24, 2007, Russo died at the age of 64 after a six-year battle with cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[9]
Filmography
[edit | edit source]He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
[edit | edit source]| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Rose | |
| 1982 | Partners | |
| 1983 | Trading Places | |
| 1984 | Teachers | |
| 1986 | Wise Guys | |
| 1989 | Rude Awakening | |
| 1991 | Off and Running | |
| Missing Pieces | Final film as a producer |
- As director
| Year | Film |
|---|---|
| 1989 | Rude Awakening |
| 2006 | America: Freedom to Fascism |
- As an actor
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Rude Awakening | The Fish | Voice role |
- Music department
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Teachers | Soundtrack album producer | Uncredited |
Television
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Manhattan Transfer | Executive producer | |
| 1976 | The Bette Midler Show | Executive producer | Television special |
| Standing Room Only | |||
| 1977 | Bette Midler: Ol' Red Hair Is Back | Executive producer | Television special |
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Parker, Jerry. "Star Maker Turns Movie Maker", Newsday, June 5, 1983. Accessed June 20, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Russo, a Brooklyn native reared in Lawrence, was a novice at management, who managed discotheques in Chicago and Detroit."
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- ^ "Russo moves from Midler to movies", Newsday, June 5, 1983. Accessed June 20, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Russo has long had faith in his own instincts, even when others had their doubts At Lawrence High School, he played football, had lots of girlfriends and was no scholar."
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- ^ Former Bette Midler manager and film producer dies at 64 The Associated Press. August 26, 2007.
External links
[edit | edit source]- America: Freedom to Fascism, Russo's last film
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Virtual Memorial
- Aaron Russo at IMDb
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- 1943 births
- 2007 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- 21st-century American Jews
- Activists from New York (state)
- American documentary filmmakers
- American businesspeople in the entertainment industry
- American libertarians
- American people of Jewish descent
- American people of Italian descent
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Filmmakers from Brooklyn
- Film producers from New York (state)
- Lawrence High School (Cedarhurst, New York) alumni
- Nevada Libertarians
- Nevada Republicans
- People from the Las Vegas Valley
- People from Lawrence, Nassau County, New York