---
name: "Saul Zaentz"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/saul-zaentz"
fi1m_id: "saul-zaentz"
imdb_id: "nm0951763"
tmdb_id: 1310
wikidata_id: "Q736466"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "28 February 1921"
died: "3 January 2014"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-03T21:26:17.210401+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Saul Zaentz

## Identity

Saul Zaentz

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/saul-zaentz
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** saul-zaentz
- **IMDb ID:** nm0951763
- **TMDB ID:** 1310
- **Wikidata ID:** Q736466
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Zaentz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q736466, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0951763/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1310

Producer. Born 28 February 1921 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA. Died 3 January 2014.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 28 February 1921, Passaic, New Jersey, USA
- **Died:** 3 January 2014
- **Active:** 1975–1996
- **Frequently works with:** [Juliette Binoche](https://film.one/person/juliette-binoche.md), [Miloš Forman](https://film.one/person/milos-forman.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscars (3 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as producer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 86 (1), 1980s 82 (2), 1990s 78 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 82 to 78 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Romance 2, History 1, Music 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $441m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Zaentz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q736466, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0951763/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1310

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*The English Patient*](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Saul Zaentz was an American film producer. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, he began his career in the record industry before moving into film production in the 1970s.

He produced adaptations of literary works including *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* (1975), *Amadeus* (1984) and *The English Patient* (1996), each of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1997. Other credits include *The Lord of the Rings* (1978), *The Mosquito Coast* (1986), *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988), *At Play in the Fields of the Lord* (1991) and *Goya's Ghosts* (2006).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, latimes.com, zaentz.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *The English Patient* (1996), Fi1m 78, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient.md)
- *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988), Fi1m 74, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-unbearable-lightness-of-being.md)
- *Amadeus* (1984), Fi1m 91, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/amadeus.md)
- *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* (1975), Fi1m 86, as Captain on Shore (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest.md)

## Complete filmography (10)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Forging Through the Darkness: The Ralph Bakshi Vision for 'The Lord of the Rings'* (2010), Thanks
- *Goya's Ghosts* (2006), Producer
- *The English Patient* (1996), Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-english-patient.md)
- *At Play in the Fields of the Lord* (1991), Producer
- *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988), Producer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-unbearable-lightness-of-being.md)
- *The Mosquito Coast* (1986), Executive Producer
- *Amadeus* (1984), Producer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/amadeus.md)
- *The Lord of the Rings* (1978), Producer
- *Three Warriors* (1977), Producer
- *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* (1975), as Captain on Shore (uncredited) · Producer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest.md)

## Gallery

- ![Saul Zaentz, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Douglas posing with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards on March 30, 1976](https://film.one/media/person/86609/gallery-ca97bf4f649d.jpg) Saul Zaentz, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Douglas posing with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards on March 30, 1976 — Los Angeles Times, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Jack_Nicholson%2C_holding_award%2C_1976_Academy_Awards_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Jack_Nicholson%2C_holding_award%2C_1976_Academy_Awards_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Saul Zaentz, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Douglas posing with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards on March 30, 1976](https://film.one/media/person/86609/gallery-adb30a165118.jpg) Saul Zaentz, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Douglas posing with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards on March 30, 1976 — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNestOscars.jpg/1280px-OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNestOscars.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Saul Zaentz](https://film.one/media/person/86609/gallery-7167a7f3d6ff.jpg) Saul Zaentz — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Saul_Zaentz_with_Oscar_1976_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Saul_Zaentz_with_Oscar_1976_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 3 won

- 1997: Best Picture (won), for *The English Patient*
- 1985: Best Picture (won), for *Amadeus*
- 1976: Best Picture (won), for *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/saul-zaentz