Landmarked And Lonely
Kaufman Astoria Studio On The Brink

By Azi Paybarah and Harvey Paretzy

In 1980, the only place with a bleaker future than the Overlook Hotel in Jack Nicholson’s “The Shining”, was the Astoria Studio on 35th Avenue.

The studio barely recovered from the beating and neglect it suffered in the 70s. Its windows had been knocked out and walls spray-painted as Hollywood churned out movies like 1980’s “The Elephant Man”, which questioned our treatment of the disfigured.

Washington acquired the lease on Astoria Studio when the U.S. Army stopped making World War II newsreels and educational films there in 1970. Like boxer Jake LaMotta in 1980’s Academy Awarding winning film “Raging Bull”, the Astoria building was past its prime, but unwilling to stay down for the count.

Previous attempts to revitalize the building had fallen short. A plan eight years earlier to house LaGuardia Community College in the studio ended when the city choked on the $4.5 million price tag. The last major round of features produced there were newsreels and educational films for G.I.’s about venereal disease.

In 1970, the year both “Patton” and “Catch-22” were released in theaters, the studio was declared a “surplus property” by the Army, and handed over to the federal government. After that, military minded moviegoers in Queens had to pacify themselves with Goldie Hawn as “Private Benjamin”

As Indiana Jones unearthed the Lost Ark for 1982 moviegoers, discussions were underway to bring the bright lights and celebrities back to Astoria. That year, the federal government handed over to the City the lease on the historic building. Then — with the help of comedian Alan King, Johnny Carson and even Gloria Swanson — the Kaufman Astoria Studio officially opened.

George S. Kaufman is the real estate developer who redeveloped the studio where celebrities like Rudolph Valentino, the Marx Brothers and others made their films. A “star spangled celebration” was held at Bloomingdale’s in Fresh Meadows. The $100 a ticket benefit included a 36-piece marching band and featured Swanson.

The $50 million makeover of the Kaufman Astoria Studio — the largest film studio east of Hollywood — came in 1982, the year of the cosmetically challenged leading men: a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman starred in Tootsie; a long-necked flat-headed alien starred in “E.T.”, and “Diner’s” leading man was Mickey Rourke.

Although film production between 1977 and 1984 brought sporadic successes for the studio – like 1979’s Warriors, and 1977’s “The Wiz”, a Wizard of Oz remake staring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, 1985 really paid dividends for Kaufman’s renovation.

“The Money Pit” was filmed there, bringing upcoming actor Tom Hanks to Astoria. Richard Gere and Paul Newman both made their second trips to 35th Avenue. Gere brought with him Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington to film “Power.” Dustin Hoffman played the lead in “Death of A Salesman,” and the big screen adaptation of the Broadway hit “Brighton Beach Memiors” also happened in Kaufman’s new studio.

Today, the 14-acre studio is home to “Sesame Street,” WFAN, the nation’s only all sports radio station, and the recently completed “Angels in America”, starring Al Pacino.