Paul Maslansky
American film producer
Paul Marc Maslansky ( mə-ZLAN-skee; November 23, 1933 – December 2, 2024) was an American film producer and writer best known for the Police Academy franchise, and directing the Blaxploitation horror film Sugar Hill (1974).
Early life
Maslansky was born in Harlem, New York, on November 23, 1933. He played jazz for a living while briefly attending law school in New York. He graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 1954.
Career
Maslansky had 41 film credits as producer or executive producer. His first production credit was for 1964's Castle of the Living Dead, which starred Christopher Lee. Initially, Maslansky used his middle initial in his credits, though this was later dropped. Maslansky worked throughout the 1960s and 1970s as producer, notable credits include Race with the Devil, Damnation Alley, The Villain, and Love Child. He also directed the Blaxploitation Southern Gothic horror film Sugar Hill (1974).
Maslansky was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the 1978 series King.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Paul Maslansky” is american film producer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Paul, Maslansky and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american film producer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2061182. VIAF identifies the subject as 263392019. The Library of Congress control number is no00036683. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1933, 2024, 1974 and 1954.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Paul Maslansky”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Paul Maslansky primary sources, Paul Maslansky archive and Paul research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paul Maslansky”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Paul Maslansky” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.