Al Ruddy, who co-created the CBS sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" and won Academy Awards for producing "The Godfather" and "Million Dollar Baby," has died in Westwood at age 94, it was announced Tuesday.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Ruddy died Saturday following a brief illness at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, his publicist said Tuesday, adding that among Ruddy's final words were, "The game is over, but we won the game."
Following the success of "Hogan's Heroes," Ruddy went on to produce the movies "Little Fauss and Big Halsy" and "Making It" before joining director Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
Ruddy was recently portrayed by Miles Teller in the Paramount+ miniseries "The Offer," which chronicles his experience making the 1972 mafia family film.
Ruddy was born March 28, 1930, in Montreal and was raised in New York City and in Miami Beach.
He attended Brooklyn Technical High School before earning a scholarship to allow him to study chemical engineering at City College of New York. In 1956, he graduated from USC with a degree in architectural design.
Ruddy moved back east to pursue a career in construction, but he later had a chance meeting with studio mogul Jack Warner, who offered him a job at Warner Bros. as an executive. After a brief stint at the studio, Ruddy moved on to the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, where he worked as a programmer trainee and representative with the Air Force.
He returned to entertainment as a television writer at Universal Studios. He left that job when Marlon Brando Sr., father of the legendary actor, hired him to produce the 1965 film "Wild Seed," a drama starring Michael Parks and Ceilia Kaye.
With just one film under his belt, Ruddy created "Hogan's Heroes" a World War II sitcom, which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1971.
When the show's run was over, Ruddy produced his second film, "Making It," about the life of an intelligent, precocious 17-year-old high school student who fancies himself a smooth Lothario.
In 1970, he produced "Little Fauss and Big Halsy," starring Robert Redford and Lauren Hutton, about two motorcycle riders.
Then came one of the biggest movies of his career, "The Godfather," in 1972. The picture earned Ruddy his first of two Oscars for Best Picture. With a cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall, the film was a critical and commercial sensation and remains among the most beloved and quoted movies in history.
Two years later, he had another big screen hit on this hands, "The Longest Yard," starring Burt Reynolds as a former football star who leads his fellow prison inmates in a game against a team of prison guards.
In 1975, Ruddy made the controversial movie "Coonskin," a mixed live- action and animated fantasy about a black rabbit from the rural south who moves to Harlem and becomes a successful gangster.
He went on to produce a long string of movies, including 1981's "The Cannonball Run," starring Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, and the action films "Death Hunt" in 1981 and "Megaforce" in 1982.
Ruddy returned to the world of illegal cross-country racing with the 1989 movie "Speed Zone," starring John Candy.
In 1993, Ruddy moved back into television and created the successful police drama, "Walker, Texas Ranger," starring Chuck Norris as a Texas Ranger who believed in handling criminals the old-fashioned way -- by beating them up. The series ran on CBS from 1993 to 2001.
Ruddy continued producing films, including 1992's "Ladybugs," 1994's "The Scout" and "Bad Girls," and 1996's "Heaven's Prisoners."
In 2004, Ruddy had another big hit on his hands when he produced "Million Dollar Baby," directed by Clint Eastwood. The movie co-starred Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, with Eastwood playing an old-school boxing trainer. "Million Dollar Baby" won several awards, including a second Best Picture Oscar for Ruddy.
Ruddy married Francoise Ruddy, who saw him through the production of "The Godfather." They later divorced and Ruddy married Wanda McDaniel, who is executive vice president for Italian designer Giorgio Armani.
He is survived by Wanda, son John, daughter Alexandra, and son-in-law screenwriter Abdullah Saeed.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
