Jennings Lang

Jennings Lang (May 28, 1915, New York City – May 29, 1996, Palm Desert, California) was an American film producer,[6] screenwriter, and actor.

Jennings Lang
Born(1915-05-28)May 28, 1915
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 29, 1996(1996-05-29) (aged 81)
Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film producer, screenwriter, actor
Spouse(s)Flora Pam Freidheim (m. 1940-1952; her death); 2 sons,[1][2][3][4]
Monica Lewis (m. 1956-1996; his death); 1 son
Children3, including Michael Lang[5]

Early life and career

Lang was born to a Jewish family[7] in New York City. Originally a lawyer, practicing in New York City, Lang came to Hollywood in 1938. The following spring, he set up an office as a talent agent, together with his future wife, Flora Pam.[8] In 1940 Lang joined the Jaffe agency and within a few years became the company's president, and came to be known as one of Hollywood's leading agents.

In 1950 he joined the MCA talent agency and two years later became vice president of MCA TV Limited; in this capacity, he worked with MCA's subsidiary Revue Productions involved in developing, creating, and selling new series in the 1950s and '60s, such as Wagon Train, The Bob Cummings Show, and McHale's Navy. He produced and executive-produced movies from 1969 to 1986; in the mid-1970s, Lang produced a series of major epics, including Airport 1975 and Earthquake; the latter picture used Sensurround to augment the onscreen action with sound waves that sent tremors throughout the theater.[9]

Personal life

In 1940, Lang married fellow publicist Flora Pam Friedheim, with whom he fathered two sons, including jazz pianist/studio musician Mike Lang. In December 1951, Lang was shot in the left inner thigh by film producer Walter Wanger,[10] who believed Lang was having an affair with his wife, actress Joan Bennett.[11] Lang survived, and Wanger, pleading insanity, served four months in prison.[12][13] Although Mrs. Lang publicly supported her husband,[14] one reporter who had covered the original scandal, Will Fowler,[15] recalled:

But the one person who was only fleetingly mentioned in the torrid front page affair, the one who publicly stated that she refused to believe her husband had been unfaithful, Mrs. Pam Lang, was driven into deep depression and a few months after the story quieted down, she died of a heart attack.[16][4]

In 1956 Lang married actress-singer Monica Lewis and fathered one more son. The couple remained married until Lang's death in 1996.

Last years and death

A stroke in 1983 forced Lang's retirement. He died of pneumonia in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. Lang was survived by his wife Monica Lewis and three sons, two by his previous marriage.[9]

Filmography

Producer

Presenter

Screenwriter

Actor

References
  1. "Rambling Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. September 17, 1940. p. 2. ProQuest 514427000. Jennings Lang and Flora Pam, both agents, were married Saturday by Rabbi Jacob Cohen.
  2. "Marriages". The New York Times. September 17, 1940. p. 49. ProQuest 105412131. LANG–PAM—Mrs. Dolly Pam of Hollywood,Calif., announces the marriage of her daughter, Flora, to Jennings Lang, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lang, 210 Riverside Drive, New York, by Rabbi Cohen of Los Angeles.
  3. "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VN-9KD : 9 March 2021), Jenning S Bently Lang and Flora Pam Friedheim, 14 Sep 1940; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,457.
  4. Parsons, Louella O. "Death Takes Wife of Jenning Lang". The San Francisco Examiner. October 23, 1952. p. 14. "Mrs. Lang, the former Flora Pam Friedheim, was born in Memphis, Tenn., on October 27, 1911. She and Lang were married in Las Vegas on September 6, 1940. She leaves two little boys, Bobby, age 11, and Mike, age 6." Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  5. Burlingame, Jon (August 5, 2022). "Mike Lang, Leading Jazz and Studio Pianist, Dies at 80". Variety. "He was born Michael Herbert Lang on Dec. 10, 1941, in Los Angeles (but changed his name, many years later, to Michael Anthony Lang), the son of Jennings Lang, an agent who later became a producer of such Universal films as 'Earthquake' and 'Airport 1975.'" Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  6. Maslin, Janet (April 26, 1985). "SCREEN: 'STICK,' WITH BURT REYNOLDS". The New York Times.
  7. Erens, Patricia. The Jew in American Cinema. ISBN 9780253204936 | ISBN 0253204933 | Publisher: Indiana University Press | Publish Date: August 1988 | p. 392
  8. "Chatter: Hollywood". Variety. May 31, 1939. p. 45. "Flora Pam and Jennings Bentley Bang [sic] opening new talent agency." Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  9. Jennings Lang at IMDb
  10. Autobiography of Monica Lewis: "Hollywood Through My Eyes" (Brule, WI, Cable Publishing, 2011) p. 162
  11. *"Joan Bennett Sees Mate Shoot Agent: 'Thought He Was Breaking Up My Home,' Says Wanger". Los Angeles Times. December 14, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2020."Hollywood Actors' Agent Is Shot; Joan Bennett's Husband Questioned; Hollywood Actors' Agent Is Shot; Joan Bennett's Husband Questioned Producer in Financial Trouble". The New York Times. 14 December 1951. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  12. "Wanger Fate Will Rest on Transcript: Producer to Escape Open Trial by Letting Judge Decide Case on Grand Jury Evidence". Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1952, p. 1.
  13. "Wanger to Be Released From County Jail Today". Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1952, p. A 1.
  14. "Joan Bennett Denies Love Tryst With Agent". The San Francisco Examiner. December 15, 1951. p. 5. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  15. Weinstock, Matt (January 3, 1952). "Miracle Men". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 24. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  16. Fowler, Will (1991). Reporters: Memoir of a Young Newspaperman. Malibu, CA: Roundtable Publishing. pp. 289–307. ISBN 0-915677-61-X.

Further reading

Fowler, Will (1991). Reporters: Memoir of a Young Newspaperman. Malibu, CA: Roundtable Publishing. ISBN 0-915677-61-X. pp. 289–307.

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