Mazursky, Paul (Irwin Lawrence Mazursky), 1939-2014, American film director, screenwriter, and actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Brooklyn College (B.A., 1951). Mazursky made his film acting debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Fear and Desire (1953), and subsequently portrayed one of the rebellious teenagers in The Blackboard Jungle (1955); he made several more appearances in TV dramas through the early ‘60s. He began writing for TV variety shows, including The Danny Kaye Show (1963) and coauthored the pilot episode of The Monkees (1965). He cowrote, directed, and produced Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1968), beginning a long career as a film director. His best-known films included Harry and Tonto (1974), An Unmarried Woman (1978), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). His career slowed in the ‘90s, although he continued to direct films through 2006, with his work earning a total of 12 Academy Award and 19 Golden Globe nominations. Mazursky also made several cameo appearances in his own films and on television.
See his autobiography (1999); S. Wasson, Paul on Mazursky (2011).
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