James D. Brubaker

James D. Brubaker
James D. Brubaker
Born	March 30, 1937; Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	January 3, 2023 (aged 85); Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Education	California State University, Los Angeles
Occupations	Producer; film executive;
Spouse	Marcy Kelly
Children	3

James D. Brubaker (March 30, 1937 – January 3, 2023) was an American film producer and production manager. Associated with Chartoff-Winkler Productions for several years, he had producing credits on several of the company's productions including two films in the Rocky series, as well as True Confessions and The Right Stuff. He later served as president of physical production at Universal Pictures from 2003 to 2008.

Biography

Brubaker was born in Los Angeles, to Margaret Hayes Brubaker and Dudley Sutton Brubaker. His family was of Swiss-German descent. He attended California State University, Los Angeles and served in the U.S. Army. He began working in the film industry as a driver, transporting horses to sets on Western films. For his work on Gia, he won the 1999 Directors Guild of America Award and was nominated for a 1998 Primetime Emmy Award.

Brubaker and his wife, Marcy Kelly, had three children. On January 3, 2023, he died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, from complications of multiple strokes.^[1]

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit	Notes	Ref.
1981	True Confessions	Associate producer		^[1]
1982	Rocky III	Associate producer
1983	The Right Stuff	Executive producer
1984	Rhinestone	Associate producer
1985	Beer	Executive producer
1985	Rocky IV	Executive producer		^[1]
1986	Cobra	Executive producer		^[1]
1987	Over the Top	Executive producer
1988	Patty Hearst	Line producer
1990	Problem Child	Executive producer
1992	Brain Donors
1994	Above the Rim	Executive producer
1995	A Walk in the Clouds	Executive producer
1996	The Nutty Professor	Co-producer		^[1]
1997	Liar Liar	Executive producer
1999	Life	Executive producer
2000	Nutty Professor II: The Klumps	Executive producer
2001	F-Stops	Executive producer
2001	Her Majesty	Executive producer
2002	Dragonfly	Executive producer
2003	Bruce Almighty			^[1]
2012	Jayne Mansfield's Car	Executive producer
2013	Standing Up	Executive producer
2014	Chef	Executive producer	Final film as a producer	^[1]

Production manager

Year	Film	Role
1978	Comes a Horseman	Unit production manager
1978	Uncle Joe Shannon	Production manager
1980	Raging Bull
1981	True Confessions
1982	Rocky III
1983	Staying Alive	Production supervisor Unit production manager
1983	The Right Stuff	Production manager
1984	Rhinestone	Unit production manager
1989	K-9
1990	Problem Child
1992	Brain Donors
1992	Mr. Baseball
1994	Above the Rim
1994	D2: The Mighty Ducks
1995	A Walk in the Clouds
1997	Liar Liar	Unit production manager Unit production manager: Second unit
1999	Life	Unit production manager
2000	Nutty Professor II: The Klumps	Unit production manager

Transportation department

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1970	The Animals	Transportation captain
1971	Big Jake	Driver	Uncredited
	Diamonds Are Forever
	Harold and Maude
1972	Lady Sings the Blues	Transportation captain
	Thumb Tripping	Insert car driver
	Up the Sandbox	Transportation captain
1973	Walking Tall	Transportation coordinator
1973	Cahill U.S. Marshal
1974	McQ
	Busting	Transportation captain
	The Godfather Part II		Uncredited
1975	Against a Crooked Sky
1976	Embryo	Transportation coordinator
	Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood	Transportation captain
	Nickelodeon	Transportation coordinator
1977	Capricorn One	Transportation coordinator

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Ref.
1999	Life	Judge E.M. Byrne	^[1]
2000	Nutty Professor II: The Klumps	Krusty Reporter

Editorial department

Year	Film	Role
1979	Rocky II	Post-production coordinator

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Film	Role
1977	New York, New York	Assistant to production executive

Thanks

Year	Film	Role
2001	F-Stops	The producers wish to thank
2002	Phone Booth	The producers wish to thank: For their assistance
2005	The Nickel Children	Special thanks
2005	Cry Wolf	The filmmakers wish to express their profound gratitute to
2007	Finishing the Game	Special thanks

Television

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
1992	Running Mates	Television film
1998	Gia	Television film	^[1]

Production manager

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	The Gifted One	Unit production manager	Television film
1998	Gia	Unit production manager: Second unit, New York	Television film

Transportation department

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	The Dead Don't Die	Transportation coordinator	Television film

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Saperstein, Pat (January 3, 2023). "James D. Brubaker, Producer on 'The Right Stuff,' Rocky Movies, Dies at 85". Variety. Retrieved January 3, 2023.

External links

James D. Brubaker at IMDb

[Saperstein-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Saperstein, Pat (January 3, 2023). "James D. Brubaker, Producer on 'The Right Stuff,' Rocky Movies, Dies at 85". Variety. Retrieved January 3, 2023.

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