Albert Ruddy, Oscar-winning producer of “The Godfather,” dies at 94

Albert S. Ruddy, a colorful Canadian producer and writer who won the Oscar for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” developed the raucous sports comedy “The Longest Yard” and helped create the hit comedy “Hogan’s Heroes,” died at age 94.

Ruddy died “peacefully” on Saturday at UCLA Medical Center, according to a spokesperson, who added that among his final words were: “The game is over, but we won the game.”

Tall and muscular, with a husky voice and a city-boy swagger, Ruddy produced more than 30 films and was present at both the top and bottom, from “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” to “Cannonball Run II.” and “Megaforce”, nominated for the Golden Raspberry award for worst film of the year.

Otherwise, he has had a mix of hits like “The Longest Yard,” for which he produced and created the story, and flops like the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller “Sabotage.” He worked frequently with Burt Reynolds, beginning with “The Longest Yard” and continuing with two comedies “Cannonball Run” and “Cloud Nine.” In addition to “Hogan’s Heroes,” his television credits include the films “Married to a Stranger” and “Running Mates.”

Nothing looks better on your resume than “The Godfather,” but producing it endangered Ruddy’s job, reputation, and life itself. Frank Sinatra and other Italian-Americans were furious about the project, which they feared would harden stereotypes of Italians as criminals, and real-life mobsters warned Ruddy that he was being watched. One night, he heard gunshots outside his home and the sound of his car windows being shot out.

On his dashboard was a warning that he should shut down production immediately.

Ruddy saved himself and the film through diplomacy; he met with crime boss Joseph Colombo and some henchmen to discuss the script.

“Joe is sitting across from me, one guy is on the couch and another is sitting at the window,” Ruddy told Vanity Fair in 2009. “He puts on his Ben Franklin glasses and looks at (the script) for about two minutes. What does “fade in” mean? he asked.

Ruddy agreed to remove a single gratuitous mention of the word “mafia” and to make a donation to the Italian American Civil Rights League. Colombo was so pleased that he asked Ruddy to appear with him at a press conference announcing his approval of the film, a meeting that led to Ruddy being photographed alongside members of organized crime.

With parent company Gulf & Western’s shares falling rapidly, Paramount fired Ruddy, only for director Francis Coppola to object and rehire him. In the end, the mobsters were cast as extras and consulted openly with the cast members. Ruddy himself made a cameo appearance as a guard at a Hollywood studio.

“How was it a happy family,” Ruddy told Vanity Fair. “All these guys loved the underworld characters, and obviously the underworld guys loved Hollywood.”

With a cast that includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall, “The Godfather” was a critical and commercial sensation and remains among the most beloved and cited films in history. When Ruddy was named winner of the Oscar for best picture at the 1973 ceremony, the presenter was Clint Eastwood, with whom he would produce “Million Dollar Baby”, winner of best picture in 2005. On the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather”, in 2022, Ruddy himself became a character. Miles Teller played him in “The Offer,” a Paramount+ miniseries about the making of the film, based on Ruddy’s experiences.

“Al Ruddy was absolutely lovely to me the whole time on ‘The Godfather’; Even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me,” Pacino said in a statement. “He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I will never forget it.”

Ruddy was married to Wanda McDaniel, a sales executive and liaison for Giorgio Armani, who helped make the brand ubiquitous in Hollywood, whether at the movies or at promotional events. They had two children.

Born in Montreal in 1930, Albert Stotland Ruddy moved to the US as a child and was raised in New York City. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he was working as an architect when he met TV actor Bernard Fein in the early 1960s. Ruddy was tired of his career and he and Fein decided to develop a TV series, although neither of them had nothing written.

The original idea was a comedy set in an American prison, but they soon changed their mind.

“We read in the paper that… (a) network was doing a sitcom set in an Italian prisoner of war camp and we thought, ‘Perfect,'” Ruddy later explained. “We rewrote our script and set it in a German POW camp in about two days.”

Starring Bob Crane as the cunning Colonel Hogan, “Hogan’s Heroes” ran from 1965 to 1971 on CBS, but was criticized for trivializing World War II and turning Nazis into lovable cartoons. Ruddy recalled network chief William Paley calling the show’s concept “reprehensible”, but softening after Ruddy “literally acted out an episode”, complete with barking dogs and other sound effects.

While Fein continued with “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy turned to film, overseeing the low-budget “Wild Seed” for Brando’s production company. His reputation for managing costs came in handy when Paramount Pictures head Robert Evans acquired the rights to Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel “The Godfather” and sought a producer for what was supposed to be a smaller, for-profit gangster film.

“I received a call on a Sunday. ‘Do you want to do The Godfather?’” Ruddy told Vanity Fair. “I thought they were kidding me, right? I said, ‘Yes, of course, I love that book’ — which I had never read.”