Biografia
Tamara Asseyev holds the distinguished reputation of producing films that achieve both commercial success and critical acclaim. NORMA RAE received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won two Oscars, including Best Actress for Sally Field. It also earned the Best Actress Award at Cannes and the Christopher Award for Best Film, Screenplay, and Director. Beyond NORMA RAE, Ms. Asseyev produced SWEETKILL, Curtis Hanson’s debut film; DRIVE-IN, an independently financed project that became one of Columbia’s top-grossing films in 1976; I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, Robert Zemeckis’ first film for Universal with Steven Spielberg; and BIG WEDNESDAY, directed by John Milius and starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Bill Katt for Warner Bros.
Additionally, Ms. Asseyev played a key role in developing SILKWOOD, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep; NOTHING IN COMMON, featuring Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason; and the Miramax film A MONTH BY THE LAKE, starring Uma Thurman, Vanessa Redgrave, and Edward Fox. Since its inception, Tamara Asseyev Productions has consistently delivered quality television content. Ms. Asseyev produced the critically acclaimed THE PENALTY PHASE, directed by Tony Richardson and starring Peter Strauss and Melissa Gilbert for CBS. Her CBS project AFTER THE PROMISE, starring Mark Harmon and Diana Scarwid and directed by David Greene, garnered Golden Globe nominations for Best Made-for-Television Movie and Best Actor for Harmon. It was the highest-rated CBS movie of 1986.
Ms. Asseyev also produced the four-hour miniseries BERYL MARKHAM: A SHADOW ON THE SUN, filmed on location in Africa and England for CBS and London Weekend Television, starring Stefanie Powers, Claire Bloom, Jack Thompson, and Frederic Forrest, directed by Academy Award-winner Tony Richardson. She served as Executive Producer for THE SECRET LIFE OF KATHY McCORMICK, starring Barbara Eden for NBC, which led its time slot; THE HIJACKING OF THE ACHILLE LAURO, nominated for three Emmy Awards for NBC in partnership with ABC Australia, starring Karl Malden and Lee Grant; and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT for CBS, London Weekend Television, and Warner Home Video, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg and starring Brigitte Nielsen, Julian Sands, Brian Cox, and Gerald McRaney.
In 1991, Ms. Asseyev made her debut as an author with the bestselling ALWAYS KISS WITH YOUR WHISKERS: Love Advice From My Cat, co-written with Liz Nickles and illustrated by Bonnie Timmons, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book, now in its third printing, sold over 95,000 copies. She followed this with a sequel, HEAVY PETTING: More Romantic Advice From My Cat, published by Hyperion Press in 1993, and FIRST CAT… SECOND TERM, published by Capra Press in 1997.
Tamara Asseyev earned a B.A. from Marymount College and an M.A. in Theater Arts from UCLA. She began her film career as an assistant to Roger Corman, working on titles such as TARGETS, directed by Peter Bogdanovich; THE SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, starring Jason Robards and George Segal; THE DEVIL'S ANGELS, featuring John Cassavetes; THE TRIP, written by Jack Nicholson and starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper; and THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, starring Vincent Price. In 1967, she associate produced THE WILD RACERS for Corman and AIP in Europe, starring Fabian. The following year, she independently produced PADDY with the Abbey Theater and Milo O'Shea on location in Ireland, distributed by Allied Artists.
Ms. Asseyev was the youngest member of the Producers Guild of America and served on its board of directors. Before entering the entertainment industry, she was a buyer for Bullocks, where she established the TREND SHOP in the Bullocks Pasadena store and worked as the West Coast scout for E.P. Dutton Publishing. She also had an early career as a child model in fashion and television.
Beyond her film and television work, Ms. Asseyev is a founding member of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, a member of the Blue Ribbon for the Los Angeles Music Center, a recipient of the Professional Achievement Award from Loyola Marymount University, and serves on the board of NORD (National Organization of Rare Disorders), since 2002.
