Kenneth Utt

Kenneth Utt (July 13, 1921 – January 19, 1994), was an American film producer and unit production manager, notable for producing The Silence of the Lambs (1991), for which he won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Kenneth Utt
Born(1921-07-13)July 13, 1921
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
DiedJanuary 19, 1994(1994-01-19) (aged 72)
New York City
Alma materElon University
OccupationFilm producer
Notable work
The Silence of the Lambs

Life and career

Utt was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on July 13, 1921. He graduated from Elon College (now Elon University) in Elon, N.C. in 1942. He received a scholarship to Juilliard School where he studied vocals in hopes of becoming an opera singer. Utt served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He returned home and became a stage and radio actor, appearing in shows like Carousel.

Utt began working in production on stage performances of Peter Pan, the lesser known 1950 Broadway version with music by Leonard Bernstein.[1] He then became a film line producer for films like Midnight Cowboy (1969), The French Connection (1971), The Seven-Ups (1973) and All That Jazz (1979). Utt was a producer and unit production manager on four Jonathan Demme films: Something Wild (1986), Married to the Mob (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Philadelphia (1993), with Lambs and Philadelphia earning awards at the Oscars. Utt was among the three producers who received Best Picture for Lambs, in which he also made a cameo appearance.

Death

Utt died on January 19, 1994 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 72. The cause was bone cancer.[2] He is survived by his wife Angie and son Tim Utt and daughter Robin Utt Fajardo.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1944Winged VictoryChorus MemberUncredited
1986Something WildDad
1988Married to the MobSourpuss F.B.I. Man
1990Miami BluesKrishna Ramba, Head Krishna
1991The Silence of the LambsDr. Akin

Producer - Academy Award for Best Picture

DogfightThrift Shop Man
1993PhiladelphiaJuror #9
1994The RefJeremiah Willard
2002The Truth About CharlieThe Late Monsieur Hyppolite
2004The Manchurian CandidateRosie's Cousin's Mentor(final film role)

References
  1. Peter Pan (1950 version), music by Leonard Bernstein at IBDB
  2. "Kenneth Utt, 72, Producer of Films Who Also Acted". The New York Times. January 22, 1994. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
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