Jack Kaufman

Jack Kaufman was born in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from City College and worked as second editor on feature films then pivoted to television news documentaries. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and began a documentary producer/writer career with David Wolper Productions, later freelance, that spanned four decades. His iconic shows include Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (considered the first TV mini-series), Trial at Nuremberg, and more than two dozen National Geographic specials on CBS. He was the first producer for Jacques Cousteau's American series, and in 1981 wrote, produced, and directed the two specials (pilots) for Ripley's Believe it or Not with Jack Palance. Kaufman was the producer of the ABC-TV series Primal Man when 31 cast and crew members were killed in a plane crash in 1974, in what is still generally considered the worst air disaster in Hollywood history. In a phone call, Kaufman insisted they not fly back that night because of the mountain location's history of disasters; he was so worried that he was driving to the location from L.A. when the crash was reported. He told family the deaths defined him for many years.