Biographie
Born in Coatesville, Philadelphia, Sofronski discovered his passion for entertainment early in life. During his junior and senior years of high school, he participated in school plays and realized acting was his true calling. At 19, after working as a DJ and radio personality, he took a bus to New York City to pursue his dream of acting. He joined the prestigious Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg, where his classmates included Hollywood icons Marilyn Monroe and Jane Fonda. Sofronski performed in numerous off-Broadway productions and summer stock. After three years entertaining Armed Services—two years in Europe and one year stateside during the Cuban Missile Crisis—he returned to New York.
Upon his return, Sofronski was appointed Associate Producer for CBS’s soap opera Search for Tomorrow. He managed a daily half-hour network show featuring over forty actors, five directors, and six writers. Within a year of his promotion to Executive Producer, the show reached the number one spot in the ratings. He also produced Another World, the first soap opera to expand to a one-hour format on NBC.
Recognized by CBS management, Sofronski was invited to serve as Director of Daytime Programming. He was soon promoted to Director of Prime Time Series and ultimately Senior Vice President of Special Programming. In this role, he oversaw acquisitions and supervised many of the network’s highest-rated movies, mini-series, award shows, documentaries, and prime time animations. He pioneered the televised introduction of several major award shows, including The Golden Globe® Awards and, with producer Alexander Cohen, the Tony® Awards. He also managed broadcasts of the Emmy® Awards, the Country Music Association® Awards, and the Grammy® Awards.
A trailblazer in the entertainment industry, Sofronski recognized the need for honoring creative artists in the U.S., akin to the British tradition of knighthood. Collaborating with George Stevens Jr., he co-created the Kennedy Center Honors. Broadcast annually from Washington, D.C., the program celebrates living artists for their lifetime contributions to American culture, with recognition presented by the President and Secretary of State. The show continues to air yearly on CBS.
Sofronski produced numerous acclaimed and highly rated television dramas, including the controversial true story Playing for Time, about an all-female orchestra performing for Nazis in a concentration camp to survive. The film earned six Emmy nominations, winning four, including Outstanding Lead Actress for Vanessa Redgrave, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jane Alexander, and Outstanding Writing for Arthur Miller’s screenplay. Playing for Time achieved some of the highest broadcast ratings in history and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Other notable dramas include Bill, starring Mickey Rooney who won an Emmy; The Wall, adapted from John Hersey’s novel; Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, featuring Powers Boothe who earned an Emmy; Skokie, about Holocaust survivors opposing a Neo-Nazi march, starring Danny Kaye in his first dramatic TV role; Into Thin Air: Death on Everest, based on Jon Krakauer’s bestseller, starring Peter Horton and Nathaniel Parker; Mandela and de Klerk, filmed in the original prison on Devil’s Island, starring Sidney Poitier (Emmy-nominated) and Michael Caine (Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated); Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke, starring Lauren Bacall; and The Bunker, with Anthony Hopkins who won an Emmy for his performance. Sofronski also produced award-winning TV documentaries such as The Body Human series, which garnered an Emmy five consecutive years. His mini-series and specials include the Emmy-nominated Mussolini: The Untold Story starring George C. Scott and Robert Downey Jr., and The Earth Day Special featuring Academy Award winner Meryl Streep and nominee Kevin Costner.
A three-time Emmy nominee, Sofronski was recognized for productions including Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story; the mini-series Queen, written by Alex Haley and starring Halle Berry in her first leading role; and Murder in Mississippi, starring Tom Hulce, who earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He also received two George Foster Peabody Awards for Playing for Time and Dummy.
Contributing to historic television moments, Sofronski introduced the first classical ballet broadcast, The Nutcracker, featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov’s American television debut. He supervised numerous variety specials starring artists like Lily Tomlin, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Suzanne Somers, Bea Arthur, Lucille Ball, Diana Ross, the Grand Ole Opry, and Elvis Presley’s final concert, among many others.
Following eight and a half years at CBS, Sofronski was named Senior Vice President and Creative Head of Feature Films. During this tenure, he oversaw films such as Turtle Diary, starring Glenda Jackson and Ben Kingsley; Target, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman; and Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Hector Babenco and starring William Hurt and Raul Julia. After moving on from feature films, he returned to theater, producing his first Broadway play, The Boys of Winter, which focused on young men during the Vietnam War and co-starred Matt Dillon and Wesley Snipes.
Soon after, Sofronski returned to film production, collaborating with producer David Wolper and Warner Bros. Their television projects included Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald, starring Helena Bonham Carter in a Golden Globe-nominated role, filmed in Dallas and Moscow. Other credits include Roots: The Gift; The Plot to Kill Hitler; and the mini-series Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Armand Assante. He also produced films such as Bed of Lies and Whose Child Is This? The War for Baby Jessica, both starring Golden Globe winner Susan Dey.
Bernard Sofronski currently divides his time between New York City and Los Angeles, remaining active in film and television. His recent Executive Producer credits include Mom at Sixteen and Murder in Greenwich.
