William Kronick (born 1934) is an American film and television writer, director and producer. He worked in the film industry from 1960 to 2000, when he segued into writing novels.
Biography Born to European emigrants, William Kronick grew up in Amsterdam, New York. He attended Columbia College where he was active in the Columbia Players’ stage productions. He also helped form The Gilbert and Sullivan Society at Barnard College.
After graduation Kronick was drafted into the U.S. Navy where he became a Photographer's Mate. During a North Atlantic exercise in Stockholm, Sweden Kronick met film and theater director Alf Sjoberg who arranged for Kronick, once out of the Navy, to apprentice with Ingmar Bergman on his next film The Magician.
Returning to New York Kronick found a job as Production Assistant with Louis de Rochemont Associates. So began his professional career in motion pictures.
Kronick's first film was a twenty-four-minute comedy, A Bowl of Cherries. The film, which played in a thousand art theaters in the U.S. and Europe, was seen by TV documentary producer, David L. Wolper. He offered Kronick the producing/directing/writing position on a new reality series, Story of….
During his long career, Kronick would make some of the highest-rated Network Specials, including Alaska! (National Geographic), Plimpton! and Mysteries of the Great Pyramid.(1 April 1977). A 'documentary' is seldom objective, Corpus Christi Caller Times (noting that Kronick "specializes" in the "one-subject show" as "documentary" format and noting that Mysteries of the Great Pyramid was debuting on April 20, 1977)(28 April 1977). ABC-TV maintains No 1. ratings, Lethbridge Herald (Listing Mysteries of the Great Pyramid as the 12th most watched prime time television program of the prior week) He directed The Five-Hundred Pound Jerk, a popular Movie-of-the-Week.
His first feature, independently financed, was A Likely Story (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) filmed entirely in Ireland. It featured Harvey Lembeck, Al Lettieri and Sinéad Cusack. Kronick also did long-term stints as Second Unit Director on features such as King Kong (1976) and Flash Gordon (1980), on which he was responsible for many action and special effects sequences.
Another major film project was the feature-length documentary To The Ends Of The Earth, which recorded the unique three-year expedition of three Englishmen who set out to circumnavigate the globe, crossing both the South and North Poles without leaving the surface of the earth. Known as the Transglobe Expedition, Prince Charles was its patron with Richard Burton narrating and hosting the film. Kronick received a Special Certificate of Merit from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for this film.
He continued to produce, write and direct Network and Cable specials until 2000, when he turned to writing novels. To date he has completed six contemporary morality tales dealing mainly with film and theater.
He has been married and divorced twice and has a son, Max. Kronick resides in Los Angeles.
Career
Filmography
Directing Credits Year Show 1999 The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper 1991 The Journey Back: Professionals Recover From Addiction 1988 The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen 1987 The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson 1983 To the Ends of the Earth 1983 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! 1980 Flash Gordon (Second Unit Director) 1977 Mysteries of the Great Pyramid 1976 King Kong (Second Unit Director) 1973 A Likely Story (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) 1973 The 500 Pound Jerk 1970-72 Plimpton! Specials 1970 Flap (Second Unit Director) 1969 The Bridge at Remagen (Second Unit Director) 1967 National Geographic Special: Alaska! 1965 Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 1965 Race for the Moon 1964 Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict 1964 Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana 1962-63 Story Of... 1961 A Bowl of Cherries
Writing Credits Year Show 1999 Celebrate the Century 1999 The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper 1991 The Journey Back: Professionals Recover From Addiction 1988 The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen 1987 Nights in White Satin 1987 The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson 1981 Great Movie Stunts: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1977 Mysteries of the Great Pyramid 1973 A Likely Story (a.k.a. Horowitz in Dublin) 1970-72 Plimpton! Specials 1967 National Geographic Special: Alaska! 1965 Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 1965 Race for the Moon 1964 Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict 1964 Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana 1962-63 Story Of... 1961 A Bowl of Cherries
Producing Credits Year Show 1997-2000 Undercover History 1999 The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper 1995-98 Mysteries of the Bible 1988 The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen 1987 Biography 1987 Playboy: Bedtime Stories 1987 The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson 1981 Small World 1978-79 In Search of... 1977 Mysteries of the Great Pyramid 1970-72 Plimpton! Specials 1967 National Geographic Special: Alaska! 1965 Time-Life Special: The Class of '49 1965 Race for the Moon 1964 Krebiozen and Cancer: Thirteen Years of Bitter Conflict 1964 Hollywood and the Stars: On Location: Night of the Iguana 1962-63 Story Of...
Novels
Year Title 2015 What Katie Said 2011 The Art of Self-Deception 2008 All Stars Die 2006 N.Y./L.A. 2005 Cooley Wyatt 2004 The Cry of Sirens
References
External links