In Remembrance: Otto Plaschkes

     Otto Plaschkes, the British producer of such films as the dark comedy Gregory Girl (1966) and the comedy Hopscotch (1980) has passed away on Monday, February 14, 2005 in London. He was 75.

     Born in Vienna on September 13, 1929, Plaschkes was among the numerous Jewish children who were transported out of Nazi occupied Europe to safety through the Kindertransport. Arriving in England in 1939, he temporarily adopted by a family in Liverpool but was later reunited with his parents and older sister. Settling in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Plaschkes attended the Bishop Wordsworth school, where one of his teachers included William Golding, author of Lord Of The Flies. Many of Plaschkes’ classmates claim to recognize themselves in the novel and insist that Plaschkes was the model for the character Piggy. Golding never denied the claim.

     After studying history at Oxford and education at Cambridge, Plaschkes landed a job at Ealing Studios. There he served as a production assistant on such films as Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) and Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963). He also served as an assistant director on 1960’s Exodus.

     His first full producing credit was on 1961’s family film Pungala Boys. His next film was the 1966 comedy Gregory Girl, which starred Lynn Redgrave who took over the role after sister Vanessa withdrew from the project. He also produced the 1968 drama The Bofors Gun starring Ian Holm and David Warner and the 1972 adaptation of John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace for Paramount Pictures.

     In the 1970s Plaschkes was made head of European production for Ely Landau’s American Film Theatre, overseeing the adaptation of stage plays to the silver screen. During his tenure he served as Executive Producer on adaptations of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming (1973), Berthold Brecht’s Galileo (1975), David Storey’s In Celebration, Simon Gray’s Butley (1976) and David Garnett's The Sailor's Return (1978).

     In 1980 Plaschkes produced the spy comedy Hopscotch before moving the television to produce two Sherlock Holmes adaptations The Sign Of Four (1983) and The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1984) featuring Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes.

     Between 1984 and 1986 he served a brief tenure as head of production for the now defunct Cannon Pictures. His last two produced film were The Holcroft Covenant, adapting the Robert Ludlum bestseller and the comedy Shadey (both 1985). During the 1980s, he also served as the chief executive of the British Film and Television Producers Association and taught at the National Film School.