Arthur P. Jacobs

Biography

Arthur P. Jacobs is best known for producing the "Planet of the Apes" series. He bought the rights to Pierre Boulle's novel Monkey Planet in 1963. Many film studios passed on the project, stating that the concept was unfilmable.

Jacobs persevered, and the film was released in 1968 to wide popular acclaim. Jacobs cast his wife, starlet Natalie Trundy, in various roles in the four Apes sequels.

Jacobs suffered from heart problems and died at the age of 51 in 1973, shortly after the final Apes film hit the theaters. An excellent character study of Jacobs can be found in John Gregory Dunne's The Studio.

Producer Arthur P. Jacobs studied cinema at the University of Southern California and then worked his way up from studio messenger at M.G...M. to owning his own public relations firm with clients such as Gregory Peck, Richard Burton, Judy Garland, and Marilyn Monroe.

He became a film producer with 'What a Way To Go' and then turned to turn major literature works such as 'Doctor Dolittle', 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' and 'Tom Sawyer' into family musicals.