Howard W. Koch

Film producer (1916–2001)

Not to be confused with Howard Koch (screenwriter).

Howard W. Koch

Koch in 1978

Born|

Howard Winchel Koch

(1916-04-11)April 11, 1916

New York City, U.S.

Died| February 16, 2001(2001-02-16) (aged 84)

Beverly Hills, California, U.S.

Occupations|

* Director
* producer

Spouse|

Ruth Pincus

(m. 1937)​

[1]
Children| 2, including Hawk Koch

Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television.

## Life and career

[edit]

Koch was born in New York City. His family was Jewish.[2] He attended DeWitt Clinton High School and the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey.[3] He began his film career as an employee at Universal Studios office in New York then made his Hollywood filmmaking debut in 1947 as an assistant director. He worked as a producer for the first time in 1953 and a year later made his directing debut. In 1964, Paramount Pictures appointed him head of film production, a position he held until 1966 when he left to set up his own production company. He had a production pact with Paramount for over 15 years.[4]

Among his numerous television productions, Howard W. Koch produced the Academy Awards show on eight occasions. Dedicated to the industry, he served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1977 to 1979. In 1990 the Academy honored him with The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and in 1991 he received the Frank Capra Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America.

Together with actor Telly Savalas, Howard Koch owned the thoroughbred racehorse Telly's Pop, winner of several important California races for juveniles including the Norfolk Stakes and Del Mar Futurity.

Howard W. Koch suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in at his home in Beverly Hills, California on February 16, 2001.[5][6] He had two children from a marriage of 64 years to Ruth Pincus, who died in March 2009.[7] In 2004, his son Hawk Koch was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## Filmography

[edit]

### Director

[edit]

Film (director)

* Shield for Murder (1954)
* Big House, U.S.A. (1955)
* Untamed Youth (1957)
* Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957)
* Jungle Heat (1957)
* The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)
* Fort Bowie (1957)
* Violent Road (1958)
* Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
* Born Reckless (1958)
* Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
* The Last Mile (1959)
* Badge 373 (1973)

Television (director)

* Maverick (1957) (1 episode)
* Hawaiian Eye (1959) (2 episodes)
* Cheyenne (1958) (1 episode)
* The Untouchables (1959) (4 episodes)
* The Gun of Zangara (1960) (TV movie taken from The Untouchables (1959 TV series))
* Miami Undercover (1961) (38 episodes)
* Texaco Presents Bob Hope in a Very Special Special: On the Road with Bing (1977)

### Producer

[edit]

Film (producer):

* War Paint (1953)
* Beachhead (1954)
* Shield for Murder (1954)
* Big House, U.S.A. (1955)
* Rebel in Town (1956)
* Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
* Sergeants 3 (1962)
* The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
* Come Blow Your Horn (1963)
* Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
* The Odd Couple (1968)
* On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
* A New Leaf (1971)
* Plaza Suite (1971)
* Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972)
* Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)
* The Other Side of Midnight (1977)
* Airplane! (1980)
* Some Kind of Hero (1982)
* Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
* Ghost (1990)

Television (producer)

* Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra (1973)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Howard W. Koch, Jr. Biography (1945-)". Film Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
2. ^ Sperling, Nicole; Julie Makinen (August 1, 2012). "How did new Academy president Hawk Koch get his unusual name?". Los Angeles Times.
3. ^ "Howard W. Koch Collection". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2011. "Howard W. Koch (1916-2001) was born in New York City. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York and Peddie Preparatory School in Hightstown, New Jersey."
4. ^ "Spent 15 Years At Studio, More To Come; Koch On 5th Paramount Contract". Variety. October 14, 1971. p. 7.
5. ^ Dutka, Elaine (February 17, 2001). "Howard W. Koch; Producer, Director, Academy President". Retrieved February 19, 2022.
6. ^ Galloway, Doug (February 16, 2001). "Producer Howard Koch dead at 84". Variety. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
7. ^ "Ruth Koch dies at 90". Variety. Associated Press. March 3, 2009. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Howard W. Koch at IMDb

Non-profit organization positions

Preceded by

Walter Mirisch

|  President of Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences
1977-1979  | Succeeded by

Fay Kanin

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Howard W. Koch

* Shield for Murder (1954)
* Big House, U.S.A. (1955)
* Untamed Youth (1957)
* Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957)
* Jungle Heat (1957)
* The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)
* Fort Bowie (1968)
* Violent Road (1958)
* Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
* Born Reckless (1958)
* Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
* The Last Mile (1959)
* The Gun of Zangara (1960)
* Badge 373 (1973)

Awards for Howard W. Koch

* v
* t
* e

David O. Selznick Achievement Award

* Hal Roach (1989)
* Stanley Kramer (1990)
* Pandro S. Berman (1991)
* David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck (1992)
* Saul Zaentz (1993)
* Howard W. Koch (1994)
* Walter Mirisch (1995)
* Billy Wilder (1996)
* Clint Eastwood (1997)
* Steven Bochco (1998)
* Jerry Bruckheimer (1999)
* Brian Grazer (2000)
* Lawrence Gordon (2001)
* Robert Evans (2002)
* Dino De Laurentiis (2003)
* Laura Ziskin (2004)
* Roger Corman (2005)
* Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher (2006)
* Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall (2007)
* Michael Douglas (2008)
* John Lasseter (2009)
* Scott Rudin (2010)
* Steven Spielberg (2011)
* Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan (2012)
* Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (2013)
* Gale Anne Hurd (2014)
* David Heyman (2015)
* Irwin Winkler (2016)
* Charles Roven (2017)
* Kevin Feige (2018)
* Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Brad Pitt (2019)
* Mary Parent (2021)
* Tom Cruise (2022)
* Martin Scorsese (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

1956–2009|

* Y. Frank Freeman (1956)
* Samuel Goldwyn (1957)
* Bob Hope (1959)
* Sol Lesser (1960)
* George Seaton (1961)
* Steve Broidy (1962)
* Edmond L. DePatie (1965)
* George Bagnall (1966)
* Gregory Peck (1967)
* Martha Raye (1968)
* George Jessel (1969)
* Frank Sinatra (1970)
* Rosalind Russell (1972)
* Lew Wasserman (1973)
* Arthur B. Krim (1974)
* Jules C. Stein (1975)
* Charlton Heston (1977)
* Leo Jaffe (1978)
* Robert Benjamin (1979)
* Danny Kaye (1981)
* Walter Mirisch (1982)
* M. J. Frankovich (1983)
* David L. Wolper (1984)
* Charles "Buddy" Rogers (1985)
* Howard W. Koch (1989)
* Audrey Hepburn / Elizabeth Taylor (1992)
* Paul Newman (1993)
* Quincy Jones (1994)
* Arthur Hiller (2001)
* Roger Mayer (2005)
* Sherry Lansing (2007)
* Jerry Lewis (2009)

2011–present|

* Oprah Winfrey (2011)
* Jeffrey Katzenberg (2012)
* Angelina Jolie (2013)
* Harry Belafonte (2014)
* Debbie Reynolds (2015)
* Geena Davis (2019)
* Tyler Perry / Motion Picture & Television Fund (2020)
* Danny Glover (2021)
* Michael J. Fox (2022)
* Michelle Satter (2023)
* Richard Curtis (2024)

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* Catalonia
* Germany
* United States
* Netherlands
* Poland

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