- Began his film industry career at MGM in 1939.
- At the end of his MGM career, he was Executive VP & Chairman of the Film Selection Committee where he greenlit Ben Hur, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Zhivago.
- In television, he also was an executive producer of "Fish Police" - another comic book adaptation - and "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?".
- The so-called "MGM Lion," as Melniker became known, was involved in a number of important deals at the studio.
- He turned down endless requests to write his book or do interviews about the Golden Age of Hollywood, especially in his latter years as he became the last mogul standing from that era.
- He told that he knew all the stories of what transpired behind the curtain at MGM in those decades but would never reveal things that could negatively impact those people, their children or their grandchildren. Ben was a "mensch.".
- He was an executive producer with Michael E. Uslan on the Batman film series and other DC Comics films.
- It was a decision in 1979 that changed his career. That was the year he teamed with fellow producer Michael E. Uslan to buy the movie rights to DC Comics' Batman, a decision that would lead to his placement in the credits for everything from 1989's Batman to 2017's Justice League all the way through this year's animated Batman: Gotham by Gaslight and Batman: Ninja movies.
- With producer Michael E. Uslan Uslan, Melniker's name appeared on a number of different comic book properties, including 1982's Swamp Thing, 2005's Constantine and 2008's The Spirit, directed by Frank Miller.
- Upon leaving MGM, Melniker became an executive producer on movies including 1975's Mitchell and 1976's Shoot.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content