Michael Schultz

Michael Schultz (born November 10, 1938) is an American director and producer of theater, film and television.

For the German gallerist, see Michael Schultz (gallerist). For the German footballer, see Michael Schultz (footballer).

Michael Schultz
Born (1938-11-10) November 10, 1938
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilm director, theater director, film producer
Years active1968–present
Spouse(s)
Gloria Jones
(
m. 1965)
(2 children)

Life and career

Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Katherine Frances Leslie (1917-1995), a factory worker, and German American Leo Albert Schultz (1913-2001), an insurance salesman.[1][2][3] His parents married in Iowa, shortly before his birth where both were listed as black on their marriage license. Mr. Schultz's occupation was listed as a musician at the time of his marriage.[4]

Senior class high school photo of director Michael Schultz (1957)

Michael Schultz, who was known as "Mike" growing up, attended Riverside High School in Milwaukee, where he was a very active student. He played baseball, football and participated in student theater productions.[5]

After his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Marquette University, he attended Princeton University, where in 1966 he directed his first play, a production of Waiting for Godot. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1968, which brought him to Broadway in 1969. His breakthrough was directing Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which he restaged for television in 1972.

Schultz' earliest film projects combined low comedy with profound social comment (Honeybaby, Honeybaby and Cooley High), reaching a peak with the ensemble comedy Car Wash (1976) and Which Way Is Up? (1977), starring Richard Pryor.

In 1978, Schultz took the reins of the musical Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with the largest budget ever entrusted to an African-American film director to that date. However, upon its release, the project was a commercial and critical failure. Schultz would go on to make prominent films such as the ensemble comedy Scavenger Hunt (1979), Denzel Washington's film debut Carbon Copy (1981), and the screwball comedy Disorderlies (1987).

More recently, Schultz has worked in television, piloting episodes of such style-conscious series as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Picket Fences, as well as an abundance of made-for-TV movies.

In 1991, Schultz was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.[6]

Personal life

Schultz married Gloria Jones in Brooklyn, New York in 1965.[7] As an actress his wife is known professionally as Lauren Jones. In non-acting capacities, she is known as Gloria Schultz. The couple have two children.

Filmography
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References
  1. "Michael A. Schultz Biography (1938–)". Filmreference.com. November 10, 1938. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  2. "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (Katherine Frances Leslie)". United States: The Generations Network. 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  3. "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (Leo Albert Schultz)". United States: The Generations Network. 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  4. "Iowa Marriage Records, 1880-1940, marriage of Leo Schultz and Katherine Leslie". United States: The Generations Network. October 18, 1938. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  5. "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 (Riverside High School)". Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Generations Network. 1957. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  6. "Jet". Books.google.com. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  7. "New York, New York Marriage License Index, 1907-2018, marriage of Michael Schultz and Gloria Jones". United States: The Generations Network. 1965. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
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