Biography
Jerry Ziesmer (31 May 1939 – 1 August 2021) was an American assistant director, production manager and occasional actor. He trained in acting at Northwestern University and UCLA before completing the Directors Guild of America assistant directors training programme in 1969.
Ziesmer worked on more than 50 films, often as first assistant director. His credits include Apocalypse Now (1979), Rocky II (1979), Scarface (1983), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Almost Famous (2000). He also appeared in small acting roles, most notably as the civilian intelligence officer in Apocalypse Now who delivers the line 'terminate with extreme prejudice'. In 1999 he published the memoir Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe. He received the Directors Guild of America's Frank Capra Achievement Award in 2006.
