Mark Damon, a film producer, sales executive, and spaghetti Western actor, died at 91, representatives for the executive told Deadline.
Damon, born Alan Harris in Chicago, started his career in Hollywood in 1956 after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox. After starring in House of Usher, Damon won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. The film was directed by Roger Corman, who died on Thursday.
The actor would move to Italy and star in films like The Reluctant Saint (1962), The Young Racers (1963), The Shortest Day (1963), Black Sabbath (1963), 100 Horseman (1964), Secret Agent 777 (1965), Dio, Come Ti Amo! (1966) and Johnny Oro (1966).
Damon evolved from acting to film production and, in 1977, founded the Producers Sales Organization to sell American films to international distributors. He is largely credited for creating a market for independent film production.
In 1993, he founded MDP Worldwide, which would be renamed Media 8 Entertainment in 2003. As a producer, Damon received multiple Oscar nominations, including winning an Academy Award in 2005 for Monster. Other films he produced include Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story, The Upside of Anger, 9 1/2 Weeks, 8 Million Ways to Die, Short Circuit, The Choirboys, The Lost Boys, The Jungle Book, The Musketeer, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, and many more.
After leaving Media 8, Damon founded Foresight Unlimited in 2005, a film, production, financing, and sales company. In 2019, it was sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
Damon’s last film as a producer was in 2019’s war drama The Last Full Measure, directed by Todd Robinson. The film starred Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, LisaGay Hamilton, among many more.
Mark Damon, circa 1956
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Armando Tinoco
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