Anthony Kramreither (August 7, 1926 - February 8, 1993) was an Austrian-Canadian film and television actor and producer.[1] Primarily known as a producer of low-budget horror and exploitation films such as Thrillkill, The Giant Spider Invasion and Humongous,[2] he was most noted as producer of the 1986 film Dancing in the Dark, which was a Genie Award nominee for Best Picture at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987.[3]
Originally from Vienna, Kramreither was a stage actor in Austria and Germany before moving to Canada in 1954. In Canada, he had television acting roles in series such as Wojeck, Quentin Durgens, M.P., R.C.M.P., Adventures in Rainbow Country and Seaway, and films such as Change of Mind, Silent Friends and Babysitters, before launching his own production company, Brightstar Films, in 1972.[1]
With Brightstar, he aspired to make serious, artistically accomplished films;[1] his first project was a television documentary series about Nobel Prize winners, and his second was the family film Lions for Breakfast.[4] To make money for the firm, however, he also agreed to make several low-budget commercial horror films, which quickly came to define his studio's reputation and eclipse his original ambitions.[2] In 1983, he produced, directed and cowrote the comedy film All in Good Taste, a deliberate parody of the gap between his own goals as a producer and the low-budget mass market compromises that he was forced to make;[2] the film would also later become noted as one of the first-ever film roles for comedic actor Jim Carrey.
When Don Haig approached him for assistance in raising funds for Dancing in the Dark, he accepted the opportunity to move back into more serious filmmaking; with its screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986, it became the first Kramreither-produced film to premiere at a major film festival. Other more ambitious films he produced around the same time included Flying, Confidential, Dreams Beyond Memory and Concrete Angels.[2]
In the late 1980s, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His final film as a producer was the 1991 film White Light, directed by Al Waxman; in the same year, he won a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.[1]
He died on February 8, 1993, at his home in Richmond Hill.[1]
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Credit | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Lions for Breakfast | |||
| 1976 | A Sweeter Song | Executive producer | ||
| 1977 | Deadly Harvest | |||
| 1982 | Humongous | |||
| 1983 | American Nightmare | Executive producer | ||
| All in Good Taste | ||||
| 1984 | Thrillkill | |||
| 1985 | Mark of Cain | |||
| 1986 | A Judgment in Stone | Associate producer | ||
| Flying | ||||
| Dancing in the Dark | ||||
| Twin Dragon Encounter | Executive producer | |||
| Confidential | ||||
| 1987 | Concrete Angels | |||
| Dreams Beyond Memory | ||||
| 1988 | The Brain | |||
| 1989 | Freakshow | |||
| Mob Story | Executive producer | |||
| 1991 | White Light | Final film as a producer |
| Year | Film | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Change of Mind | Dr. Bornear | |
| Silent Friends | |||
| Babysitters | Carlo | ||
| 1971 | The Reincarnate | Van Broeck | |
| 1981 | The Amateur | TV Director |
| Year | Film | |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | All in Good Taste | |
| 1984 | Thrillkill |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Cannonball | Koslenko | ||
| Folio | Brion | |||
| 1958−59 | The Unforeseen | Hornung | ||
| 1959 | Hudson's Bay | Hans Huber | ||
| 1959−60 | R.C.M.P. | Victor Raskob Mike Holowchuk | ||
| 1960 | Festival | |||
| 1960−61 | Encounter | SS Man | ||
| 1963 | Scarlett Hill | Dr. Spangle | ||
| 1963−65 | The Forest Rangers | Merv Wild Man Karl Hauptmann | ||
| 1965−66 | Seaway | Captain Kristatos Meiningen Barsky | ||
| 1969 | Adventures in Rainbow Country | Miroslav | ||
| 1971 | Heißer Sand | George Howard | Television film | |
| Augenzeugen müssen blind sein | Boy Harloff | Television film | ||
| 1980 | Matt and Jenny | Franz Von Poppel |