Edward Nassour
Edward Nassour (April 7, 1911 – December 15, 1962) was an American film producer, businessman, and special effects animator. He was the brother and business partner of William Nassour (1903–1987).
Biography
Edward Nassour was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one of the sons of Syrian immigrants Abraham and Rhoda Nassour, who had emigrated to New York's Little Syria with their elder son William in 1902. Before becoming a producer, Nassour worked as a Los Angeles businessman working in the aircraft manufacturing industry and had an interest in stop motion animation. In the early 1940s he partnered with Walter Lantz to make a stop motion Technicolor dinosaur film for Columbia Pictures entitled Lost Atlantis. Lantz and Nassour produced a test reel, but the project was too expensive and was never completed.[1] The two men decided to form a company to make a series of stop motion films but the plan never was completed.[2]
In 1946, the Nassour brothers purchased a four-acre lot on Sunset Boulevard and built a studio complex featuring four stages, a projection room, dressing rooms, and offices.[3] A variety of independent films (such as Africa Screams) and television shows were produced at the complex. After selling his studio complex, Nassour supervised the dinosaur sequences in The Lost Continent. Later the Nassours made the television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle in Mexico.[4]
Nassour developed a special effects process called "Regiscope" and successfully patented many animation techniques.[5] He claimed to have spent 18 years developing the process from his Lost Atlantis project.[6] Regiscope was used in the Mexican international co-production The Beast of Hollow Mountain that Edward directed based on designs by Willis O'Brien for his then unfinished film The Valley of Gwangi.[citation needed]
Personal life
In 1946, he married American film and radio actress Sharon Douglas (born Rhoda-Nelle Rader; October 16, 1920, Stephens County, Oklahoma – June 18, 2016); the couple had four children together.[7][8][8][8][8]
Death
Nassour committed suicide with a self-inflicted knife wound to the heart in 1962.[9][10]
References
- ^ p.59 American Society of Cinematographers American Cinematographer magazine, Volume 66 ASC Holding Corp., 1985
- ^ p.365 Motion Picture Herald, Quigley Pub. Co., 1944
- ^ Dangcil, Tommy, Hollywood Studios Arcadia Publishing, 2007, p. 104
- ^ "Sheena on TV - Pt 2: Filming in Mexico Page 1". Terrororstralis.com. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ^ "Edward Nassour profile". IMDb. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ Johnson, John. Cheap Tricks and Class Acts: Special Effects, Makeup, and Stunts from the Films of the Fantastic Fifties McFarland, 1996, pp. 67-68
- ^ Edward Nassour at IMDb
- ^ a b c d "Sharon Douglas, actress – obituary". Telegraph.co.uk. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
- ^ Variety Obituary December 1962
- ^ Slide, Anthony The Television Industry: a Historical Dictionary Greenwood Press, 1991, p. 185
External links
- Edward Nassour at IMDb
- William Nassour at IMDb
- Nassour Studios https://web.archive.org/web/20110719002611/http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/nassour.htm
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