Al Pacino leads tributes to two-time Oscar-winning producer of The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby and filmmaker who was also behind Million Dollar Baby, The Longest Yard and Hogan’s Heroes.
City News Service
Al Ruddy, who co-created the CBS sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” and won Academy Awards for producing “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” has died in Westwood at age 94, it was announced Tuesday.
Ruddy died Saturday following a brief illness at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, his publicist said Tuesday.
His wife, Wanda McDaniel, also shared the news of his death on her Instagram page.
“Among the last words of Albert S. Ruddy: `The game is over, but we won the game!’ You slayed the game of life, my darling,” McDaniel wrote in her post. “The void you leave behind is as immense as our love. You were human effervescence, the bubbles in the tonic. … Rest in peace my unique, urbane, brilliant husband. You are now my heart — always my forever love and my man in the arena.”
Following the success of “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy went on to produce the movies “Little Fauss and Big Halsy” and “Making It” before joining director Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
Ruddy was recently portrayed by Miles Teller in the Paramount+ miniseries “The Offer,” which chronicles his experience making the 1972 mafia family film.
In a statement, Ruddy was remembered by Al Pacino, who worked with him on “The Godfather.”
“Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on `The Godfather,”’ Pacino said. “Even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me. He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”
Clint Eastwood, who directed “Million Dollar Baby,” posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of himself and Ruddy with the caption, ”Al Ruddy, RIP My Friend.”
Ruddy was born March 28, 1930, in Montreal and was raised in New York City and in Miami Beach.
He attended Brooklyn Technical High School before earning a scholarship to allow him to study chemical engineering at City College of New York. In 1956, he graduated from USC with a degree in architectural design.
Ruddy moved back east to pursue a career in construction, but he later had a chance meeting with studio mogul Jack Warner, who offered him a job at Warner Bros. as an executive. After a brief stint at the studio, Ruddy moved on to the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, where he worked as a programmer trainee and representative with the Air Force.
He returned to entertainment as a television writer at Universal Studios. He left that job when Marlon Brando Sr., father of the legendary actor, hired him to produce the 1965 film “Wild Seed,” a drama starring Michael Parks and Ceilia Kaye.
With just one film under his belt, Ruddy created “Hogan’s Heroes” a World War II sitcom, which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1971.
When the show’s run was over, Ruddy produced his second film, “Making It,” about the life of an intelligent, precocious 17-year-old high school student who fancies himself a smooth Lothario.
In 1970, he produced “Little Fauss and Big Halsy,” starring Robert Redford and Lauren Hutton, about two motorcycle riders.
Then came one of the biggest movies of his career, “The Godfather,” in 1972. The picture earned Ruddy his first of two Oscars for Best Picture. With a cast including Marlon Brando, Pacino and Robert Duvall, the film was a critical and commercial sensation and remains among the most beloved and quoted movies in history.
“There’s one reason that movie is successful and one reason only: it may be the greatest family movie ever made,” Ruddy told Vanity Fair in 2009. “It’s a great tragedy of a man and the son he worships, the son who embodied all the hopes he had for his future. … That was his dream. But what happened? The kid is put into the (expletive) line to save his father’s life, and he becomes a gangster, too. It’s heartbreaking.”
Two years after “The Godfather,” Ruddy had another big screen hit on this hands, “The Longest Yard,” starring Burt Reynolds as a former football star who leads his fellow prison inmates in a game against a team of prison guards.
In 1975, Ruddy made the controversial movie “Coonskin,” a mixed live-action and animated fantasy about a black rabbit from the rural south who moves to Harlem and becomes a successful gangster.
He went on to produce a long string of movies, including 1981’s “The Cannonball Run,” starring Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, and the action films “Death Hunt” in 1981 and “Megaforce” in 1982.
Ruddy returned to the world of illegal cross-country racing with the 1989 movie “Speed Zone,” starring John Candy.
In 1993, Ruddy moved back into television and created the successful police drama, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” starring Chuck Norris as a Texas Ranger who believed in handling criminals the old-fashioned way — by beating them up. The series ran on CBS from 1993 to 2001.
Ruddy continued producing films, including 1992’s “Ladybugs,” 1994’s “The Scout” and “Bad Girls,” and 1996’s “Heaven’s Prisoners.”
In 2004, Ruddy had another big hit on his hands when he produced “Million Dollar Baby.” The movie co-starred Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, with Eastwood playing an old-school boxing trainer. “Million Dollar Baby” won several awards, including a second Best Picture Oscar for Ruddy.
Ruddy went on to produce the 2014 action film “Sabotage,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Al Ruddy was a Hollywood legend. He was an absolute icon and a visionary who made some of the best movies of all time,” Schwarzenegger wrote on social media. “I know I will never forget him. I will miss him dearly, but Al will always be with me.”
Ruddy married Francoise Ruddy, who saw him through the production of “The Godfather.” They later divorced and Ruddy married McDaniel, who is executive vice president for Italian designer Giorgio Armani.
He is survived by Wanda, son John, daughter Alexandra, and son-in-law screenwriter Abdullah Saeed.
