R. Ben Efraim
- Producer
- Additional Crew
R. Ben Efraim was born on a kibbutz north of Tel Aviv, and educated at
Hebrew University. Efraim first produced entertainment and public
affairs programming for Israeli National Radio, then edited the Armed
Forces newspaper. On a 1964 research junket to New York, he came into
contact with veteran television producer Dan Enright, then an executive
at Screen Gems, the TV divison of Columbia Pictures. Enright, who had
spent his childhood in British Palestine, immediately befriended the
young Israeli, providing advice, assistance and encouragement. It was,
in fact, at Enright's suggestion that Efraim set out eight years later
to produce his own films. Working from London, he put together a
modestly budgeted political thriller, "The Jerusalem File," starring
Nicol Williamson, Bruce Davidson and Donald Pleasence, distributed by
MGM. Travelling back to New York, he formed a production partnership
with former MGM executive vice-president Benjamin Melniker. Between
1974 and 1976 they made two action pictures: "Mitchell," starring Joe
Don Baker, Martin Balsam, Linda Evans and Merline Olsen, and "Shoot,"
starring Cliff Robertson, Ernest Borgnine and Henry Silva. They in
1977, he moved out to Los Angeles and into a three-way partnership with
his longtime friend Dan Enright and Enright's partner, Jack Barry.
Placed in charge of Barry & Enright Films -- Efraim first produced
"Search And Destroy," starring Perry King, Don Stroud and George
Kennedy. His second project was "Private Lessons." Ben Efraim now lives
in Brentwood, not far from his Unity offices, in a Tudor-style manor
house his English wife Anne finds comfortably reminiscent of the ones
at home. The Efraims have two sons, Adam and Daniel.