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Carl Andy

Revision as of 00:24, 19 May 2020 by CampArgyll (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Feature Films)
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Carlton Mordechai Anderson professionally working as Carl Andy (Born October 17, 1939) is a retired American Film Director, Writer, Musician and Record producer best known for directing Music Videos for various acts in the 70s, 80s and 90s such as Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Heart, Prince and the Revolution, Talking Heads, Men at Work, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Pearl Jam, etc. he also ventured into Film and Television a couple of times directing films such as Toby (1975), and Funk Your Mama (1977)

Andy is also known for his affinity for Japanese Animation, being considered a Proto-Otaku by some historians.

Biography

Early Years (1939-1954)

Andy was born Carlton Anderson In San Fernando, California in 1939 to a Jewish-American family, He is the son of late actor George Andy, who acted in films in the 1930s-60s, and Sofia Benjamin, a Jewish priest at a local Synagogue, he was also the Nephew of actor Bud Jamison who appeared in Comedy shorts of the 30s and 40s, in 1943, Carl's younger brother Joseph was born who would also become a successful director in his own right.

George and Sofia were forced to separate in 1948 due to George's tax problems at the time and a friend of his losing his job thanks to the McCarthy Witch Hunts, Andy wouldn't see his father again until 1969.

At Famous Studios and Fred Ladd (1954-1965)

Graduation

Andy's graduation photo, circa 1958

during his Teen years in the 1950s, Andy worked at Paramount's Famous Studios (later Paramount Cartoon Studios) as a both janitor and a gag writer, he would even direct some of these shorts in the 1960s, around 1962-63, Andy attended Beatnik clubs in New York with a film camera and filmed interviews many people at the clubs, with this he made his live action directorial debut, the short documentary A Study in Beat (1963), about the Beatnik subculture of the late 50s to the early 60s and was released by Paramount, the short was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 1964 Academy Awards, by this point Andy had left Famous to join Fred Ladd's writing staff on English dubbed episodes of Astro Boy, a job he would take from 1963 till the Show's first-run ending in 1966, at the same time he also tried his hand at a feature film, he eventually approached B-movie king Roger Corman with a comedic film parodying the Beach Party series of films at AIP, the result being 1965's Surfer Vampires from Beyond the Grave.

Career at ABC (1965-1969)

in his mid to late 20s, Andy later would work at ABC as a writer and director for episodes of shows such as The Addams Family, Bewitched and Batman before directing full time for shows like The Fugitive, Combat!, General Hospital and The Mod Squad.

also during this time, Andy tried his hand at Instrumental Jazz, recording for ABC Records, he recorded one album And Now... Carl Andy (1967) before getting being fired from ABC in 1969 for making out with a male co-worker.

The Columbia Years and Return to Directing (1970-1989)

After his firing at ABC, Andy was going through a state of depression and attempted suicide many times, this got the attention of Andy's former High School classmate James William Guercio, who by this point had become a producer for CBS Records, Guercio helped the struggling Andy sign a deal with Columbia Records in 1970, where he would record albums for 2 decades.

Andy also made his return to film making, directing two films in 1971, the low budget Jewish themed revenge film Hebrew Rage for New Line Cinema and the also Jewish themed thriller Home Invader for United Artists.

Andy approached notoriety with the release of Toby, while not a critical success, people praised the direction and the young stars, most notably Carrie Fisher, complete with a new deal with United Artists, Andy took advantage of every deal the studio had, producing films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lorimar and others, and a Carl Andy film was released almost every year, combined with sales of his Jazz records.

one film Andy pitched to UA, Horseshoe however was rejected due to it's politically satirical subject matter, so Andy took it to 20th Century-Fox whom agreed to finance and release, the film however was plagued by being released days after the Greensboro massacre and the film flopped though would develop a cult following later on.

Music Bibliography

Discography

  • And Now... Carl Andy (1967) - ABC
  • Andy's Wide World of Jazz (1970) - Columbia
  • Home Invader (Original Motion Picture Score) (1971) - Columbia Masterworks, with Bernard Herman
  • The Promised Land (1973) - Columbia
  • Big Big Band (1975) - Columbia
  • The Jewish Experience (1977) - Dreidel
  • A Softer Side of Andy (1979) - Dreidel
  • Album Cuts (1981) - Dreidel
  • An Album of Peace (1984) - Dreidel
  • The Best of Carl Andy (1986) - Dreidel
  • Shalom Aleichem (1989) - Dreidel
  • Live at Tom's Restraunt (1999) - Columbia/Legacy
  • The Essential Carl Andy (2003) - Columbia/Legacy
  • The Box (2009) - Columbia/Legacy
  • This is Music (2020) - RCA

Music Videography

  • Surfin' U.S.A. (1963) - Beach Boys
  • Kiss Me, Baby (1965) - Beach Boys
  • Like a Rolling Stone (1965) - Bob Dylan
  • I've Got You Babe (1966) - Sonny & Cher
  • These Boots Are Made for Walking (1966) - Nancy Sinatra
  • What a Wonderful World (1967) - Louis Armstrong
  • Drifter's Escape (1968) - Bob Dylan
  • Beginnings (1969) - Chicago
  • Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is? (1969) - Chicago
  • 25 or 6 to 4 (1970) - Chicago
  • Black Magic Woman (1971) - Santana
  • Brown Sugar (1971) - The Rolling Stones
  • Superstition (1972) - Stevie Wonder
  • Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) (1972) - Elton John
  • You Don't Mess Around with Jim (1972) - Jim Croce
  • Reelin' in the Years (1973) - Steely Dan
  • Over the Hills and Far Away (1973) - Led Zeppelin
  • Rikki Don't Lose That Number (1974) - Steely Dan
  • Born to Run (1975) - Bruce Springsteen
  • Crazy on You (1976) - Heart
  • If You Leave Me Now (1976) - Chicago
  • As (1976) - Stevie Wonder
  • Another Star (1977) - Stevie Wonder
  • Nobody Does It Better (1977) - Carly Simon
  • You Make Loving Fun (1977) - Fleetwood Mac
  • Deacon Blues (1977) - Steely Dan
  • Hotel California (1978) - The Eagles
  • Y.M.C.A. (1979) - Village People
  • Underground (1981) - Men at Work
  • Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) (1982) - Squeeze (co-directed with Mamoru Oshii) animated by Studio Pierrot
  • It's a Mistake (1982) - Men at Work
  • Eminence Front (1982) - The Who
  • Break My Stride (1983) - Matthew Wilder
  • Pop Life (1985) - Prince/The Revolution
  • Here's Johnny (1986) - "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • Solsbury Hill (1990) - Peter Gabriel, song was originally released in 1977

More to be added soon

Filmography

Short Films

Feature Films

Television

Films he rejected/passed on

  • King Kong (1976)
  • FM (1978)
  • The Wiz (1978) due to feeling the script wasn't accurate to the play
  • Superman (1978) Passed due to it being too expensive
  • Rocky II (1979) due to having already directed Toby
  • The Empire Strikes Back (1980) same as Superman
  • Bronco Billy (1980) due to coping with the death of his Parents and Wife
  • Shock Treatment (1981) due to his experience on directing "My Sharona"
  • Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
  • Ghostbusters (1984) same as Superman, He would later call this decision the biggest mistake of his career
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
  • The Color Purple (1985) due to author Alice Walker's Anti-Israeli stance, ironically Steven Spielberg, a Jew himself would direct the film
  • Moonwalker (1988) same as Superman
  • UHF (1989) same as Shock Treatment
  • Steel Magnolias (1989) due to his falling out with Tri-Star parent Columbia
  • Misery (1990) same as above
  • What About Bob? (1991)
  • A Few Good Men (1992) same as Misery
  • Super Mario Bros. (1993) same as Superman
  • Sleepless in Seattle (1994) same as A Few Good Men
  • Shakespeare in Love (1998)
  • The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
  • Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
  • Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Unrealized Projects

One of Andy's unmade projects was a Live-Action film based on the Peanuts strips for United Artists in 1972, which was rejected by creator Charles Schulz (Andy's friend at the time), Andy changed his mind and cancelled the project.

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