Background
Pintoff, Ernest was born on December 15, 1931 in New York City. Son of Joseph and Sylvia (Kokol) Pintoff.
Pintoff, Ernest was born on December 15, 1931 in New York City. Son of Joseph and Sylvia (Kokol) Pintoff.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Syracuse University, 1953. Master of Arts, Michigan State University, 1955.
Born in Watertown, Connecticut, but raised in New York City, Pintoff originally began as a jazz trumpeter who taught painting and design at Michigan State University. However, he had always shown an interest in the animation of film and began writing in 1956. His career took off in 1957, when he wrote the script for Flebus, followed by 1959 as a producer for the animated short film, The Violinist.
Narrated by Carl Reiner, the film earned Pintoff an Oscar nomination and illustrated a promising young career in directing film ahead of him.
On television, Pintoff directed many episodes of popular television series, including Hawaii Five-O (1968), Kojak (1968), The Six Million Dollar Manitoba (1974), The Dukes of Hazard (1979), Falcon Crest (1981) and Voyagers! (1982). As part of National Broadcasting Company"s "Experiments in Television" in the late 1960s, he also directed the documentaries This Is Marshall McLuhan and This Is Sholem Aleichem.
Pintoff produced and directed a number of low-budget independent films such as Harvey Middleman, Fireman (1965), Who Killed Mary What"s "Er Name? (1971) and Dynamite Chicken (1972), a film using a collection of old clips from music with appearances by John Lennon, Richard Pryor and Andy Warhol. Following his last film in 1985, Pintoff taught directing at the School of Visual Arts, American Film Institute, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, California Institute of the Arts and University of California, Los Los Angeles
After suffering a stroke in 1985, Pintoff retired from film and turned to writing books, including a memoir, Bolt From the Blue and a novel, Zachary and further books on his love of animation.
His health declined again in 2001 and he died of a stroke on January 12, 2002.
Caroline Pintoff - wife
Jonathan Pintoff - son
Gabrielle Stornaiuolo - daughter who lives in San Francisco
Three grandsons.
Member Writers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Married Caroline Webb-Carter, May 21, 1970. Children: Jonathan, Gabrielle.