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Paul Mazursky

An independent filmmaker and often onscreen performer frequently compared with fellow New Yorker Woody Allen, Paul Mazursky spent years in show business developing an acting career and a reputation as a writer before finally directing his own screenplays. After making his feature debut as an actor in Stanley Kubrick's "Fear and Desire" (1953), Mazursky went on to write for "The Danny Kaye Show" (CBS, 1963-67) while also penning the pilot episode for "The Monkees" (NBC, 1966-68). Though denied his feature directorial debut by star Peter Sellers with his script for "I Love You Alice B. Toklas" (1968), he was finally able to helm his first movie with "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969), a once-controversial, but now tame by comparison look at loose sexual mores in the "free love" era. He went on to direct several fine movies in the following decade, including "Blume in Love" (1973) and "Harry and Tonto" (1974), before having one of his biggest hits with the feminist-themed "An Unmarried Woman" (1978). Mazursky continued to charm audiences with "Moscow on the Hudson" (1984) while having perhaps his greatest box office success with "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986). Following an atypical effort with the tragic-comic "Enemies: A Love Story" (1989), Mazursky began to stumble as a director with "Scenes from a Mall" (1991) and "The Pickle" (1993). While leaving feature directing largely behind, Mazursky made acting appearances in several movies and on television shows, while making clear as the years passed that he had left the director's chair for good. Paul Mazursky died in Los Angeles on June 30, 2014 at the age of 84.