festivalgirl
03-22-2007, 12:48 AM
Saul Swimmer, Director of ‘Concert for Bangladesh,’ Is Dead at 70
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 21, 2007
MIAMI, March 21 — Saul Swimmer, who directed the documentary “The Concert for Bangladesh,” immortalizing the 1971 show organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar to raise money for refugees, died on March 3. He was 70.
The cause was heart failure, his sister Esther Itzkovitz said. He also had kidney trouble, she said.
“The Concert for Bangladesh,” released in 1972, recorded one of the first major rock concert benefits, held at Madison Square Garden in New York. It featured Mr. Harrison and Ringo Starr a year after the Beatles broke up. Mr. Shankar, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston and Leon Russell also performed.
The movie, which was re-released last year to mark the 35th anniversary of the concert, raised money for Unicef relief efforts for refugees of the floods, famine and civil war in Bangladesh.
Mr. Swimmer was also a co-producer on the 1970 Beatles movie “Let It Be.” Among his other films were “Around the World of Mike Todd” (1968) with Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles; “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” (1968) featuring the 1960s pop group Herman’s Hermits; and the rock documentary “Queen: We Will Rock You” (1982). His last project was “Bob Marley & Friends” (2005).
Mr. Swimmer was born in Uniontown, Pa. He began directing movies in his 20s, earning some fame in 1959 for the 30-minute film “The Boy Who Owned a Melephant,” which was narrated by Tallulah Bankhead and won a Gold Leaf Award at the Venice Film Festival.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 21, 2007
MIAMI, March 21 — Saul Swimmer, who directed the documentary “The Concert for Bangladesh,” immortalizing the 1971 show organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar to raise money for refugees, died on March 3. He was 70.
The cause was heart failure, his sister Esther Itzkovitz said. He also had kidney trouble, she said.
“The Concert for Bangladesh,” released in 1972, recorded one of the first major rock concert benefits, held at Madison Square Garden in New York. It featured Mr. Harrison and Ringo Starr a year after the Beatles broke up. Mr. Shankar, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston and Leon Russell also performed.
The movie, which was re-released last year to mark the 35th anniversary of the concert, raised money for Unicef relief efforts for refugees of the floods, famine and civil war in Bangladesh.
Mr. Swimmer was also a co-producer on the 1970 Beatles movie “Let It Be.” Among his other films were “Around the World of Mike Todd” (1968) with Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles; “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” (1968) featuring the 1960s pop group Herman’s Hermits; and the rock documentary “Queen: We Will Rock You” (1982). His last project was “Bob Marley & Friends” (2005).
Mr. Swimmer was born in Uniontown, Pa. He began directing movies in his 20s, earning some fame in 1959 for the 30-minute film “The Boy Who Owned a Melephant,” which was narrated by Tallulah Bankhead and won a Gold Leaf Award at the Venice Film Festival.