Pierre Spengler

A longtime veteran on the international film scene, Pierre Spengler began his career in 1964. Within a few years he was actively producing movies for the Salkind Organization, a production house run by several generations of the namesake family. In 1971, Spengler earned his first producer credit, on the vividly and appropriately titled crime thriller "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!." He also did the same job for "The Three Musketeers: The Queen's Diamonds," the 1973 sequel to the popular adaptation of the classic swashbuckler tale. His major hit came several years later, in 1978, with the extremely popular "Superman," the first feature film adaptation of the comic book series. Spengler was instrumental in securing rights to the film and getting it made, both of which were long and painful processes. Following the runaway success of that movie, Spengler was a natural choice to produce its two immediate sequels, "Superman II" (1980), and "Superman III" (1983), which featured comedian Richard Pryor in a supporting role. Spengler's subsequent films didn't enjoy the box office and enduring popularity of the Superman efforts, but attracted some renown nonetheless. These include Emir Kusturica's wild, rollicking stomp through communist Yugoslavia, "Underground" (1995), and the 2005 martial-arts drama "Unleashed," featuring Jet Li.