Robert Kuperberg passes away at 68

August 20, 2012 by Barry Walsh

Robert Kuperberg, a French writer, producer and director behind several documentary profiles of celebrities, passed away in Paris on August 11 at the age of 68, from cancer.

Subjects he’d profiled over the years included Martin Scorsese, Joseph Campbell, Howard Hughes and James Ellroy.

Over the past decade, Kuperberg worked with his daughters Clara and Julia through their Paris-based production company, Wichita Films. Among the titles he wrote and directed with Clara were 2007′s Dominick Dunne: In Search of Justice, which claimed the audience award for best documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. The pair also co-wrote and helmed such titles as Sinatra: A Song for the FBI; The Dark Side of the FBI; The Brother Who Sent the Rosenbergs to the Electric Chair; and The Silver Screen Revolution: New Faces in Hollywood, all produced by the younger daughter Julia.

“He was a very talented and fascinating movie lover,” daughters Clara and Julia told realscreen. “He knew everything about movies and especially about American movies.”

In 2011, he wrote and directed a documentary study of the Beat Generation, Le retour de la Beat Generation, which featured Easy Rider star Peter Fonda and was produced by Ego Productions.

Born in Algeria, the filmmaker began his career as a journalist and co-founded a weekly entertainment trade in France. He then moved to production, and served as a producer on the César-winning drama Monsieur Klein, and co-writing the 1989 film Comedie d’amour.

Tags: Clara Kuperberg, Dominick Dunne: In Search of Justice, Julia Kuperberg, Robert Kuperberg, Wichita Films