Mace Neufeld

A veteran film and television producer, Mace Neufeld established himself as a talent manager before overseeing a string of Hollywood blockbusters that would make him one of the most powerful and respected in the business. He first dabbled in producing when working with clients on such series as the musical-variety show "The Captain and Tennille" (ABC, 1976-77) even as he broke into the film industry performing similar duties on the supernatural-thriller "The Omen" (1976). Neufeld threw himself into his new line of work, straddling the worlds of film and television equally with such productions as the Western comedy "The Frisco Kid" (1979) and a miniseries adaptation of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" (ABC, 1981). The modest success of Kevin Costner's political-thriller "No Way Out" (1987) set the stage for Neufeld's first unequivocal hit "The Hunt for Red October" (1990). The producer returned to the well for more adaptations of the best-selling Tom Clancy novels with "Patriot Games" (1992) and "Clear and Present Danger" (1994), each of which dominated at the box office. Although his efforts yielded their fair share of duds - the costly updating of the sci-fi cult-series "Lost in Space" (1999) being one of the more forgettable - another Clancy thriller, "The Sum of All Fears" (2002), and the Clint Eastwood-directed "Invictus" (2009) proved his instincts were as sharp as ever. As one of Hollywood's most respected and reliable producers, Neufeld's reputation was assured.