- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBerton Jerome Schneider
- Bert was known for standing up for what he believed in, personally and professionally, no matter what the cost may be. When he won the Oscar for Best Documentary, instead of a speech he read a telegram from the Vietnamese ambassador from the peace talks in Paris. There was a lot of anger from the old guard, including Bob Hope. Tensions were so high a fist fight almost ensued. When making The Last Picture Show, he fought for the film to be in black and white and threatened to not produce the movie unless they agreed. During the shooting of Days of Heaven, directed by Terrance Malick, there was a lot of money and time wasted due to the fact that Mr. Malick insisted that quite a few scenes could only be shot at twilight, the magic hour, wasting a lot of time and money. Bert believed so strongly in his talent that he allowed this to continue until Mr. Malick was satisfied with what he had shot After Bert was able to transport Huey Newton, who was wanted for a murder he did not commit, to a small fishing village in Mexico, Yelapa, where he had a compound. He outfitted a boat with all the equipment to ensure Mr Newton would be able to get from there to Cuba safely. They had hired someone's brother who they could trust to be the captain. The first time he took the boat out after its upgrade, he had apparently smoked a little to much marijuana. The boat struck an underwater statue of Jesus and sunk.
His father walked out of a screening of Easy Rider and forbade his mother to watch it
Bert was known among his friends as a kind and altruistic person who spent much of his fortune supporting causes he believed in and always helping out people in need, both friends and strangers- IMDb Mini Biography By: Wendell Calton, wife #4
- SpousesWendell Calton(July 6, 1995 - November 12, 1996) (divorced)Ariane Cecile Chambon(November 5, 1994 - November 30, 1994) (her death)Judith Evelyn Feinberg(December 25, 1955 - March 1973) (divorced, 2 children)Greta Ronningen (divorced)
- He formed a very successful production company with director Bob Rafelson in the 1960s, known first as Raybert, then later as BBS Productions (for "Bert, Bob & Steve" with the addition of Steve Blauner). He went on to win an Oscar and an Emmy. He decided to quit the business after producing Days of Heaven (1978).
- His producing career was written about in the book "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" by Peter Biskind.
- Was a close friend and companion of Candice Bergen for many years.
- Helped smuggle Huey P. Newton to Cuba in 1974.
- Son of Abe Schneider, president of Columbia Pictures after Harry Cohn's death in 1959.
- [on his film 'Hearts and Minds", which is highly critical of America's role in the Vietnam war] It shouldn't be considered a documentary. It should be considered a disaster epic, for that's what it surely is.
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