In Remembrance: Bruce Malmuth

     Bruce Malmuth, the director of documentaries and action films, has passed away on June 28, 2005 in Los Angeles. He was 71.

     Born on February 4, 1934 in New York City, Malmuth was an avid sports fan. He began making documentaries while in the Army, during which time he met baseball announcer Walter “Red” barber. Following his discharge from the military, Malmuth worked for several years directing the coverage of the New York Yankees for New York City’s WPIX radio. He also produced commercials, winning two Clio awards for his work.

     Malmuth’s first film directorial work was on a segment for the 1975 release Fore Play – an anthology film featuring three separate comic short stories linked together through introductions by comedian Irwin Corey. His first full-length feature, for which he replaced director Gary Nelson, was the 1981 thriller Nighthawks starring Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams as New York police detectives trying to stop a German terrorist. He followed that up with the 3-D comedy The Man Who Wasn’t There (1983) with Steve Guttenberg, the thriller Where Are The Children? (1986) and the Steven Seagal actioner Hard To Kill (1990).

     Malmuth also directed the television documentaries Baseballs Or Switchblades? and the Emmy award-winning A Boy’s Dream featuring baseball player Darryl Strawberry. Along with his son Evan, Malmuth wrote the play Thanksgiving Cries about life in Los Angeles’s juvenile detention center in the San Fernando Valley. Malmuth also made small cameo appearances in a handful of films, most notably as the ring announcer in the first two Karate Kid (1984, 1986) films.

     Malmuth’s final film was the 1994 action film Pentathlon, starring Dolf Lundgren.