Leon gast biography

  • Leon Jacques Gast was an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor.
  • Leon Jacques Gast (March 30, 1936 – March 8, 2021) was an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor.
  • Leon Gast was born on March 30, 1936 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. He was a director and producer, known for When We Were Kings (1996), Smash His Camera.

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    Leon Gast, Oscar-Winning Director For ‘When We Were Kings,’ Dies

    NEWS PLUS:News

    by Greg Brodsky

    Leon Gast accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Woodstock Film Festival (Photo: Woodstock Film Festival; used with permission)

    Leon Gast, who won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature for his 1996 film, When We Were Kings, about the world heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaire in 1974, died today (March 8, 2021), at his home in Woodstock, N.Y., of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. The news of his passing was announced by Meira Blaustein, the founder and executive director for the Woodstock Film Festival for whom Gast had been a member of its Advisory Board since its inception in 2000. Gast was 85.

    The fight pitted the then-undefeated Foreman, just 25 years old, against the 32-year-old former champion, Ali. The so-called “Rumble in the Jungle” is cited by many as one of the

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    Leon Gast

    American film director (1936–2021)

    Leon Jacques Gast (March 30, 1936 – March 8, 2021)[1] was an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary, When We Were Kings depicts the iconic heavyweight boxing match: The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. This film would go on to win the 1996 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award. Gast co-directed the 1977 documentary, The Grateful Dead Movie with guitarist Jerry Garcia. The film captured the band's October 1974, five-night performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Gast also co-directed the 1983 film Hell's Angels Forever, which focused on the notorious motorcycle club Hells Angels. The Angels are believed to have learned that Gast put material in the documentary which they didn't prefer. To this end, Gast claimed that the Angels tracked him down and beat him up.[citation needed

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    Leon Gast is an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary When We Were Kings depicting the iconic heavyweight boxing match termed The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman won the 1996 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award. Gast co-directed the 1977 documentary The Grateful Dead Movie with guitarist Jerry Garcia. The film captured the band's October 1974 five-night performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Gast also co-directed the 1983 film Hell's Angels Forever.

    A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Gast studied dramatic arts at Columbia University, and in that same period worked the television series High Adventure with writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas. Gast is also known for his still photography which has appeared in such magazines as Vogue, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar.

    Gast's most recent project fryst vatten a documentary entitled Smash His Camera, a film about p

  • leon gast biography