Paul B. Radin

SANTA BARBARA, CA--Paul B. Radin, producer of the Oscar-winning film "Born Free" and the TV series of the same name, died here of congestive heart failure Oct. 18, 2001. He was 88. A well-connected Hollywood insider who worked his way up the studio system over six decades, he is best known by MSTies as the producer of the movie in episode K09- PHASE IV.

The New York City-born Radin began making advertising layouts for Columbia Pictures while still in high school. He later became advertising director for United Artists, where he produced the ad campaign for the 1938 film "Algiers," starring Charles Boyer and Lamarr.

He went on to create ad campaigns for Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" and Charlie Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux." Radin also was a talent agent for the Sam Jaffe Agency. His clients included Yul Brynner, with whom he created a film production partnership.

Radin's first major movie as producer was "Born Free," which was based on Joy Adamson's true story about raising a lioness. The 1966 film, shot in Kenya, won Oscars for best original score and title song. Radin also produced the 1972 sequel, "Living Free," and the 1974 "Born Free" TV series.

About the same time that he was working on the series, he produced "Phase IV," a tense sci-fi tale about the occupants of a lonely scientific outpost who come under attack from a super-intelligent colony of ants. The movie is often mentioned by MSTies as being among the better movies that have been featured on MST3K.

He continued to produce movies in the 1980s, including 1983's "The Haunting Passion" and 1985's "Crime of Innocence." His final film was 1996's "The Ghost and the Darkness."