David Korda, the British film producer and financier who hailed from a family of notable filmmakers including his father Zoltàn Korda, has died. He was 87.
Korda’s death was disclosed Nov. 16 by film historian Charles Drazin via social media. Korda died Sept. 18 at Cromwell Hospital in London following a battle with cancer, according to Drazin who wrote a 2011 biography of Korda’s uncle, producer-director Alexander Korda. News of David Korda’s death was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
Korda’s father was the director of films such as 1939’s “The Four Feathers” and 1951’s “Cry, the Beloved Country.” His mother was actress Joan Gardner, known for roles in such films as 1934’s “The Scarlett Pimpernel” and 1937’s “Dark Journey.” His uncle Alexander Korda founded London Films, owner of British Lion Films, which produced the 1933 feature “The Private Life of Henry VIII” and 1949’s “The Third Man.” His uncle Vincent Korda was an Oscar-winning art director.
Over the course of his career, which spanned more than six decades, David Korda produced films such as 1987’s “Hamburger Hill” and the 1999 Paul Bettany starrer “After the Rain.” As a film financier, he worked with director Francis Ford Coppola on the production of 1983’s “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish.” He was also instrumental in arranging financing for Terry Gilliam’s famously over-budget production of 1988’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.”
Born in London, Korda moved with his parents at the age of three to Beverly Hills. “His first memory of Los Angeles was his Uncle Alex turning up in a large limousine to take him on a tour of the town, then sending him home with a bag of silver dollars. Other early memories included playing with props from the ‘Thief of Bagdad’ and ‘The Jungle Book,’ ” Drazin wrote in a recent tribute to David Korda.
Korda attended the Lycée in South Kensington prior to the International School in Geneva, Pomona College and Oxford. Following his studies, Korda created a theater company in collaboration with Polish actor-director Wladek Sheybal in 1960. The company was funded with financial support from his father and would go on to spotlight performances from actors such as Eileen Atkins, Prunella Scales and Jeremy Brett.
After his father’s death the following year, Korda served as an assistant on Peter Brook’s 1963 feature “Lord of the Flies.” For producer Charles H. Schneer, he compiled footage to be used for films such as “Siege of the Saxons,” “East of Sudan” and “Land Raiders.” For his incorporation of film sequences from “The Four Feathers,” Korda said: “I always thought my father must have turned in his grave.”
Later in his career, Korda served as a unit manager for the 1967 Paramount musical “Half a Sixpence” and later as producer on “The Ruling Class” and “Man Friday.” The following decade, he worked on independently financed films as a production supervisor and served as an associate producer on “Sunburn” and “Annie and Little Britches” for the British company Hemdale.
In 1980, he joined Film Finances in the role of London-based production executive. The company provided bonds for “The Terminator,” “Romancing the Stone” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” during his tenure. Korda left Film Finances in 1985 to become the head of production at a revived RKO.
Uncomplaining and stoical, David was outwardly modest to the very last. The only visible signs of any pride were the four movie posters that decorated his office: behind his desk were the two Francis Ford Coppola pictures, ‘The Outsiders’ and ‘Rumble Fish,’ whose successful completion had helped to establish Film Finances as a major force in Hollywood, while on the opposite wall was ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,’ the production that would have risked the very existence of the company had David not managed to contain it.
Korda is survived by a son, Nik, and a daughter, Lerryn.
