Producer Albert S. Ruddy appears backstage after his film “Million Dollar Baby” received the award for best picture at the 77th Academy Awards, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005, in Los Angeles. The Canadian-born producer and writer who won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” died Saturday, May 25, 2024, at age 94. | Photo credit: Reed Saxon

Albert S. Ruddy, a colorful, Canadian-born producer and writer who won an Oscar Saint And million dollar Babydeveloped a raucous prison-sports comedy the longest Yard and helped create the hit sitcom Hogan’s Heroesdied at the age of 94.

According to a spokesperson, Rudy died “peacefully” at UCLA Medical Center on Saturday, and his last words were, “The game is over, but we won the game.”

Tall and muscular, with a raspy voice and the swagger of a city kid, Ruddy produced over 30 films and made his presence felt everywhere from the top to the bottom. Saint And million dollar Baby To Cannonball Run II And MegaforceNominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Film of the Year.

Producer Albert S. Ruddy accepts the Oscar for best picture for “The Godfather” at the 45th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California, on March 27, 1973. The Canadian-born producer and writer who won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” died on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at age 94.

Otherwise, he had a mix of successes such as the longest Yardwhich he produced and wrote the story for, and flops like the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller sabotageHe worked frequently with Burt Reynolds, from the beginning the longest Yard and continuing with two Cannonball Run Humor and cloud NineBesides Hogan’s HeroesHer television credits include the films Marrying a stranger And Running Mates,

Nothing looks better on your resume SaintBut making it threatened Rudy’s job, reputation, and his own life. Frank Sinatra and other Italian Americans were upset with the project, as they feared it would reinforce the image of Italians as criminals, and real-life gangsters told Rudy he was being watched. One night he heard gunfire outside his home and bullets blaring from his car windows.

There was a warning on his dashboard that he should stop production immediately.

Ruddy saved himself and the film through diplomacy; he met with crime lord Joseph Colombo and some of his henchmen to discuss the script.

“The one who sits in front of me, there’s a guy on the couch, and there’s a guy sitting at the window,” explained Rudy Vanity Fair in 2009. “He puts on his little Ben Franklin glasses, and he looks at it (the script) for about two minutes. What does ‘fade out’ mean?’ he asked.”

Rudy agreed to remove any unnecessary mention of the word “Mafia” from the film and make a donation to the Italian American Civil Rights League. Colombo was so pleased that he urged Rudy to join him at a press conference announcing his approval of the film, which led to Rudy being photographed with members of organized crime.

Paramount fired Ruddy as parent company Gulf & Western’s stock fell sharply, but director Francis Coppola objected and rehired him. In the end, the Mafias were cast as extras and the cast was consulted freely. Ruddy himself played a Hollywood studio guard.

“It was like a happy family,” Rudy said Vanity Fair“All these people loved the underworld characters, and obviously the underworld people loved Hollywood.”

With actors such as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall, Saint It was a critical and commercial sensation and remains one of the most beloved and quoted films in history. When Rudy was announced the winner of the Best Picture Oscar at the 1973 ceremony, the presenter was Clint Eastwood, with whom he had produced million dollar BabyBest Picture winner in 2005. On the 50th anniversary of SaintIn 2022, Rudy became a character himself. He is played by Miles Teller ProposalA miniseries from Paramount+ about the making of the film, based on Ruddy’s experiences.

“Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time Saint“He wanted me even when he didn’t want me,” Pacino said in a statement. “He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most, and I will never forget that.”

Rudy was married to Wanda McDaniel, a sales executive and liaison for Giorgio Armani who helped make the brand ubiquitous in Hollywood, whether in films or promotional events. They had two children.

Born Albert Stotland Ruddy in Montreal in 1930, he moved to the U.S. as a child and grew up in New York City. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he was working as an architect when he met TV actor Bernard Fein in the early 1960s. Ruddy had grown tired of his career, and he and Fein decided to develop a TV series, though neither had done any writing.

His original idea was to make a comedy film set in an American prison, but he soon changed his mind.

“We read in the newspaper that … (a) network was making a sitcom set in an Italian prisoner of war camp and we thought, ‘Perfect,'” Ruddy later explained. “We rewrote our script and set it in a German prisoner of war camp in about two days.”

Bob Crane played the scheming Colonel Hogan, Hogan’s Heroes aired on CBS from 1965-71, but was criticized for trivializing World War II and turning Nazis into cute cartoons. Ruddy remembers that network head William Paley called the show’s concept “reprehensible,” but took a softer stance after Ruddy “actually acted out an episode,” which included barking dogs and other sound effects.

While Fein continued Hogan’s HeroesRuddy turns to film, oversees low budget wild seeds for Brando’s production company. His reputation for cost management proved most useful when Paramount Pictures head Robert Evans acquired the rights to Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel Saint and sought a producer for a small, profit-making gangster film.

“I got a call on Sunday. ‘Do you want to Saint?’” Ruddy told Vanity Fair. “I thought they were joking, right? I said, ‘Yeah, of course, I love that book’ — which I had never read.”