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Fred Weintraub
Fred Weintraub
Born	Fred Robert Weintraub; April 27, 1928; The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	March 5, 2017 (aged 88); Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Occupations	Film producer; television producer;
Known for	Original owner of The Bitter End, martial arts and action films
Website	fredweintraub.com

Fred Robert Weintraub (April 27, 1928 – March 5, 2017)^[1] was an American film and television producer and writer.

Career

Background

Weintraub was the original owner and host of The Bitter End in New York City's Greenwich Village.^[2] Weintraub discovered singers and stand-up comedians such as Peter, Paul and Mary, Lenny Bruce (with whom he was arrested for obscenity), Randy Newman and The Isley Brothers.^[3] The club also featured early performances of Neil Diamond, Woody Allen, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Ricky Nelson, Nina Simone, Dustin Hoffman, Charles Aznavour, Lily Tomlin, Stevie Wonder, Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, George Carlin, Bob Dylan, Harry Chapin, Bill Cosby and Phil Ochs.^[3] During the early 1960s The Bitter End hosted "Open Mike" Hootenannies every Tuesday night, showcasing young, old, known and unknown folksingers.^[4]

Weintraub is not related to fellow film producer Jerry Weintraub.

Films and television

Moving west in the mid 1960s, Weintraub created, wrote, and produced several television shows including Hootenanny and Dukes of Hazzard.^[5] Beginning with Rage then Enter the Dragon Weintraub produced dozens of movies, many with a martial arts theme (like China O'Brien with Cynthia Rothrock, for example), as well as directing a documentary on Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee: The Curse of the Dragon (1993).^[5]

In 1970 Weintraub became an Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. One of the first films he oversaw for the studio was Woodstock. In 1972 he became an independent producer, and made a number of adventure films, including Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee.

One of Weintraub's documentary films was It's Showtime (1976) which consisted of film clips profiling various animal actors, such as Rin Tin Tin, Flipper, Trigger, and Asta, with commentary from the actors who worked with them, and including footage of James Cagney, Jimmy Durante, Cary Grant, Maureen O'Sullivan, Dick Powell, Ronald Reagan, and Mickey Rooney working with animal stars.^[6]^[7]

Other work

In 2011, Weintraub published his memoir, Bruce Lee, Woodstock and Me, along with collaborator David Fields,^[8] recalling his fifty-year career in the entertainment industry.^[9]

Death

Weintraub died on March 5, 2017, in his Pacific Palisades home due to natural causes related to Parkinson's disease. He was 88.

He is survived by his wife Jackie; children Sandra, Barbara, Max and Zachary; and four grandchildren.^[10]

Filmography

Producer

Title	Year	Notes
Christmas at F.A.O. Schwarz	1968	Executive producer; television film
Rage	1972
Invasion of the Bee Girls	1973	Executive producer
Enter the Dragon	1973
Black Belt Jones	1974
Truck Turner	1974
Golden Needles	1974
The Ultimate Warrior	1975
Trial by Combat	1976
It's Showtime	1976	Documentary film
Hot Potato	1976
Checkered Flag or Crash	1977
Outlaw Blues	1977	Executive producer
The Pack	1977
The Promise	1979
Jaguar Lives!	1979
Tom Horn	1980
The Big Brawl	1980
Force: Five	1981
High Road to China	1983
Gymkata	1985
Out of Control	1985
The Women's Club	1987
My Father, My Son	1988	Television film
The Best of the Martial Arts Films	1990	Documentary film
Chips, the War Dog	1990	Executive producer; television film
China O'Brien	1990
A Show of Force	1990	Co-producer
China O'Brien II	1990	Direct-to-video
Born to Ride	1991
The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes	1992	Documentary film
Gypsy Eyes	1992
Trouble Bound	1993
The Curse of the Dragon	1993	Documentary film
Backstreet Justice	1994
Under the Gun	1995	Executive producer
Triplecross	1995	Television films
Playboy's Really Naked Truth	1995-97	Executive producer (21 episodes)
Undertow	1996	Television film
The New Adventures of Robin Hood	1997-98	Executive producer (53 episodes)
The Devil's Arithmetic	1999	Television films
Perilous	2000	Television films
Amazons and Gladiators	2001
Warrior Angels	2002
Endangered Species	2003
Dream Warrior	2003
La Femme Musketeer	2004	Mini-series (2 episodes)
Patton's Ghost Corps	2006	Executive producer; direct-to-video documentary

Writer

Title	Year	Notes
Black Belt Jones	1974	Story
Trial by Combat	1976	Story
Hot Potato	1976	Characters
The Promise	1979	Story
The Big Brawl	1980	Story
The Women's Club	1987	Story
The New Adventures of Robin Hood	1997-1998	Creator (53 episodes)