Ransohoff was born on July 7, 1927 in New Orleans the son of Babette and Arthur Ransohoff. His mother was a former Republican National Committeewoman. He had one sister Barbara Burnett and one brother Jack, a nuclear engineer. He attended Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut and graduated with a B.A. in History and English from Colgate University in 1948.
Career
After school he worked at several jobs, before joining Caravel Films in 1950 in New York City where he worked as a salesman, writer, and producer.
Filmways
In 1952, he co-founded the film production company Filmways, Inc. with Edwin Kasper. The firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1959. Filmways started making TV commercials, moved into documentaries then sitcoms; by 1963 Filmways were making $13 million a year. Mister Ed and The Beverly Hillbillies brought Ransohoff his first successes in 1960 and 1962. Thereafter he turned his attention to films..
Ransohoff's first film as producer was Boys' Night Out starring James Garner and Kim Novak and distributed by MGM. Garner was also in Ransohoff's next two films, both of which were directed by Arthur Hiller: The Wheeler Dealers and The Americanization of Emily ; the latter, based on a script by Paddy Chayefsky, was particularly praised. Ransohoff found commercial success with The Sandpiper based on a story by the producer and starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. He produced The Cincinnati Kid, firing Sam Peckinpah as director during filming and replacing him with Norman Jewison; the movie received strong reviews. Less popular was The Loved One. Eye of the Devil was a thriller originally starring Kim Novak, David Niven and a young actor Ransohoff put under personal contract, Sharon Tate. Novak was injured during filming and was replaced by Deborah Kerr. Tate was in Ransohoff's next films, The Fearless Vampire Killers directed by Roman Polanski whom she would marry, and Don't Make Waves. He executive producedOur Mother's House in England and produced Ice Station Zebra.
Post-MGM
Ransohoff then signed a deal with Columbia, who distributed his A Midsummer Night's Dream, Castle Keep, and Hamlet. He made Catch-22 at Paramount, The Moonshine War at MGM, and 10 Rillington Place and See No Evil at Columbia. King Lear was released by a smaller company. He also made Fuzz and Save the Tiger. His last film for Filmways was The White Dawn.
Post-Filmways
In 1972 Ransohoff became an independent producer. He signed a contract with Paramount to make movies for them. Ransohoff went on to produce such films as Silver Streak, Nightwing, and The Wanderers. He made a short lived TV series Co-Ed Fever but focused on features: A Change of Seasons, American Pop, Hanky Panky, and Class.
Columbia and later films
Ransohoff had success with Jagged Edge based on a script for Joe Eszterhas. It was made by Columbia who also distributed Ransohoff's The Big Town, Switching Channels, Physical Evidence, and Welcome Home. Ransohoff's later films included Guilty as Sin and Turbulence.
Personal life
Ransohoff was married twice. His first wife was Nancy Hope Lundgren; they had four children Peter, Karen, and twins Steven and Kurt. His second wife was Joan Marie Ransohoff, an artist. Ransohoff died on December 13, 2017, at his Bel Air home in Los Angeles. He was 90.
