Mace Neufeld, ‘Patriot Games,’ ‘Equalizer’ producer, dead at 93

Mace Neufeld, a producer whose credits included hits such as “Patriot Games,” “The Equalizer” and “The Hunt for Red October,” died Friday. He was 93.

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Neufeld died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Neufeld excelled as a producer of thrillers, including five films featuring author Tom Clancy’s CIA analyst Jack Ryan, the newspaper reported.

Those included “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Patriot Games” (1992), “Clear and Present Danger” (1994), “The Sum of All Fears” (2002) and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” (2014). Neufeld also directed “No Way Out” with Kevin Costner, and “The Equalizer” in 2014, which starred Denzel Washington.

“I was blessed to have the privilege to work with Mace on several of his films, including the Jack Ryan series,” former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing told the Times. “Mace was an extraordinary producer, and the films he made will live on forever.”

Born in New York City on July 13, 1928, Neufeld was a songwriter and a talent agent, Variety reported. He represented Don Adams, Sammy Davis Jr., Don Knotts, Randy Newman and Neil Diamond, the website reported.

He wrote a song for Davis (“Blues to End the Blues”) and snapped a post-World War II photograph that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Neufeld was on his way to work as a photographer for a dress store in November 1944 when he saw a soldier on crutches emerging from a taxi, the website reported. He sold copies to The New York Daily News and an international news service for $250 apiece; the photo was a finalist for the Pulitzer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Neufeld was a success in television and films. In 1976, he produced “The Omen,” which became one of the year’s highest-grossing films, the Times reported.

“He was a great risk-taker,” Neufeld’s son-in-law, screenwriter and producer Trey Callaway, told the newspaper. “He mortgaged his house to make ‘The Omen’ and then just never looked back from that.”

Neufeld was honored with career achievement awards by the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Israel Film Festival and the National Board of Review, Variety reported. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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