Producer/star mentor Jules Buck dies at 83

Associated Press

PARIS — Jules Buck, 83, the producer who propelled Peter O’Toole to stardom, has died.

Buck died July 18 in the Paris suburb of Suresnes from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter, Joan Juliet Buck, said on Tuesday.

Born on July 30, 1917 in St. Louis, Missouri, Buck began his career as a photographer. He took pictures of celebrities such as Errol Flynn and Clark Gable in the 1930s.

Buck served as assistant producer on Robert Siodmak’s "The Killers" (1946), co-wrote the screenplay for "Viva Zapata!" with John Steinbeck, and produced one of Marilyn Monroe’s earliest films, "Love Nest" (1951).

Disillusioned by the stifling atmosphere created by Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunts, Buck and his wife, Joyce, moved to Europe.

They lived first in Paris and then in London, where he produced "OSS," a television series about wartime spies.

After seeing the young Irish actor Peter O’Toole onstage, Buck cast him as an army officer in the 1960 film "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England."

It was that performance, O’Toole later said, that persuaded David Lean to cast him in the title role of "Lawrence of Arabia."

In 1959, Buck and O’Toole founded Keep Films, which produced a string of O’Toole vehicles, including "Becket" (1964), "What’s New Pussycat?" (1965), "The Lion in Winter" (1968) and the controversial "The Ruling Class" (1972). Their collaboration lasted over 20 years.