KATZMAN, SAM

KATZMAN, SAM (1901–1973), U.S. motion picture producer. Born in New York, Katzman entered the film industry as a prop boy at age 13 and worked his way up, learning virtually every aspect of film production before becoming a producer himself. A prolific producer, his more than 230 films (between 1934 and 1974) ran the gamut as well, starting with action/adventure serials and proceeding to cover such genres as westerns, science fiction, teenage musicals, and hippie/biker films. Many of his serials were based on comic strip and radio characters. Chiefly a producer for low-budget films, Katzman's movies include the Jungle Jim series; Brenda Starr, Reporter (1945); the first live-action Superman (1948); Batman and Robin (1949); Captain Video (1951); The Lost Planet (1953); Drums of Tahiti (1954); The Gun That Won the West (1955); Rock around the Clock (1956); The Werewolf (1956); Escape from San Quentin (1957); Let's Twist Again (1962); Kissin' Cousins (1964); When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965); Get Yourself a College Girl (1965); The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967); The Young Runaways (1968); and The Loners (1972). (Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)