Harry J. Ufland, Producer Of 'The Last Temptation Of Christ,' Is Dead At 81
Harry J. Ufland, the producer behind the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ, has died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 81.
Ufland's son, Tommy, confirmed the sad news with The Hollywood Reporter. He died of brain cancer at his home in Playa Vista on March 2.
Hollywood Career
The Manhattan-born Ufland was as an agent before he became a film producer. He worked at William Morris from 1958 to 1974 and at CMA/ICM from 1974 to 1976. He launched his own agency thereafter. He founded Ufland-Roth Productions with Joe Roth in 1982 and launched Ufland Productions from 1985 to 2011 where he worked alongside his wife, Mary Jane.
The veteran-agent-turned-producer has a list of movies under his name. His Hollywood career spans 60 years. He is famously known as a frequent Martin Scorsese collaborator. He worked with the renowned director in his 1988 movie The Last Temptation of Christ, led by actor Willem Dafoe. Ufland also worked with the veteran filmmaker in his 1973 film Mean Streets, the 1976 movie Taxi Driver, and in the 1980 film Raging Bull. Ufland appeared in Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982), where he played the role of an agent for kidnapped late-night host Jerry Langford, portrayed by Jerry Lewis.
Ufland served as a producer for the 1986 film Streets of Gold and in the 1991 movie Not Without My Daughter. Other credits under his name include Winkler's Night and the City (1992) starring Jessica Lange and Robert De Niro, Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) with Ethan Hawke, and Carl Franklin's One True Thing (1998) featuring Meryl Streep.
His recent projects include Crazy/Beautiful (2001) starring Kristen Dunst, Keep the Faith, Baby (2002) with Vanessa Williams, and the 2013 comedy film The Big Wedding, which paired him up with De Niro one last time. It was also his last film credit.
Aside from film credits, Ufland was also known for his 18-minute work on the late Michael Jackson's "Bad" music video. His producing clients include De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Catherine Deneuve, Jodie Foster, Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Bogdanovich, Adrian Lyne, and Jonathan Kaplan. He also packaged Ridley Scott's Blade Runner in 1982.
Ufland taught at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California from 2011 until his death. He is survived by his wife, Mary Jane, and their son, Tommy, and his children Anne, Jenny, Chris, Jossie, and John, from a previous marriage.
