Early life

Mark Damon was born Alan Harris in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a grocer. His family was Jewish, and their surname had originally been "Herscovitz". Damon moved to Los Angeles, California at a young age where he attended Fairfax High School. As a senior in high school, he was scouted as an actor by Groucho Marx, but chose to attend dental school at UCLA. He soon switched to the Anderson School of Management, eventually graduating with an MBA and a BA in English. Damon also began taking theater classes, and decided that he wanted a career as an actor.

Career

Actor

In 1956, Damon started his career in Hollywood. He signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and their Regal Pictures affiliate appearing in such films as Between Heaven and Hell (1956) and This Rebel Breed (1957).

In 1960, Damon starred opposite Vincent Price in the first of Roger Corman's famous series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, House of Usher, written by Richard Matheson. He won a Golden Globe Award as a "Star of Tomorrow" for his performance in the film. After an invitation from renowned director Luchino Visconti, he relocated to Rome, Italy, where he starred in over 40 films, including many classic spaghetti westerns like Johnny Oro and Johnny Yuma (1966).

Producer

Damon eventually gave up acting in the mid-1970s to become a film producer. He first entered the world of independent sales and production in the 1970s while living and working in Italy where he saw a huge market of independent international distributors eager for top American movies. When he returned to the U.S. in 1977 he founded Producers Sales Organization (PSO). His goal was to sell important American pictures to international distributors, the first such company to compete with the major studios. Damon’s subsequent success with PSO led to his reputation as the inventor of the foreign sales business and the brains behind independent film production. His early visionary contributions to the international distribution of independently produced films are widely recognized and he has developed a reputation in the entertainment industry as not only one of the leading producers and distributors of independent films, but as the “legendary Mark Damon” for his contribution to independent film finance structures by developing the industry-standard practice of pre-selling foreign rights and banking the distribution contracts.

Over the past 25 years, Damon’s productions have grossed over $2 billion in theatrical box office worldwide. Damon has been directly involved in the international licensing of over 300 feature length pictures, including such noteworthy box-office titles as the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Sean Connery, Prizzi's Honor, directed by John Huston and featuring Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, Once Upon A Time In America, directed by Sergio Leone and featuring Robert De Niro and James Woods, Cotton Club, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring Richard Gere and The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas.

Damon has produced or executive produced over 70 films, and his films have received 10 Oscar nominations including: the 2005 Academy Award winner Monster, starring Charlize Theron; the critically acclaimed, multi-Oscar nominated World War II drama Das Boot, directed by Wolfgang Petersen; and The NeverEnding Story, also directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Other acclaimed films include The Upside of Anger, starring Oscar nominee Joan Allen and Kevin Costner; 9 ½ Weeks, directed by Adrian Lyne; 8 Million Ways to Die, directed by Hal Ashby; Short Circuit, directed by John Badham; High Spirits directed by Neil Jordan; The Choirboys directed by Robert Aldrich; The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher; The Jungle Book, directed by Stephen Sommers; The Musketeer directed by Peter Hyams and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, also directed by Peter Hyams, and starring Michael Douglas. Damon was a founding member of the American Film Marketing Association (now IFTA) and is a recurring board member of the IFTA.

In 2005, Damon founded film production, financing, and sales company Foresight Unlimited. Foresight handled international sales for, co-financed, and produced the Rob Reiner comedy And So It Goes, starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton. The company served as executive producer on Universal Studios’ 2 Guns, starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, and Universal’s Lone Survivor, directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg.

Personal life

Damon lives with his wife Maggie (née Markov) in Beverly Hills, California. They have two children.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	And So It Goes	Producer	Starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton
2013	Lone Survivor	Executive Producer	Starring Mark Wahlberg
2013	2 Guns	Executive Producer	Starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg
2012	Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning	Executive Producer	Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren
2011	Flypaper	Producer	Starring Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd
2011	The Ledge	Producer	Starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, and Terrence Howard
2009	Universal Soldier: Regeneration	Executive Producer	Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren
2009	Beyond A Reasonable Doubt	Producer	Starring Michael Douglas
2008	It's Alive	Executive Producer
2007	Captivity	Producer
2006	O Jerusalem	Producer
2005	The Upside of Anger	Executive Producer	Starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen
2004	Beyond The Sea	Executive Producer	Starring Kevin Spacey
2004	The I Inside	Producer
2003	Monster	Producer	Starring Charlize Theron Academy Award for Best Actress Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
2003	11:14	Executive Producer
2003	The United States of Leland	Executive Producer	Starring Don Cheadle
2002	Extreme Ops	Executive Producer
2002	FeardotCom	Executive Producer
2001	The Musketeer	Executive Producer
2001	The Body	Executive Producer
2000	Love & Sex	Executive Producer
1999	Eye of the Beholder	Executive Producer	Starring Ewan MacGregor
1999	A Dog of Flanders	Executive Producer
1997	Deceiver	Wayland's Father Executive Producer
1997	The Blackout	Executive Producer
1996	The Winner	Executive Producer
1994	The Jungle Book	Executive Producer
1993	Stalingrad	Executive Producer
1991	Diary of a Hitman	Executive Producer
1990	Vietnam, Texas	Executive Producer
1989	Wild Orchid	Producer	Starring Mickey Rourke
1988	High Spirits	Executive Producer
1988	Bat*21	Co-Producer
1988	Mac and Me	Executive Producer
1987	The Lost Boys	Executive Producer
1986	Flight of the Navigator	Executive Producer
1986	Short Circuit	Executive Producer
1986	8 Million Ways to Die	Executive Producer	Starring Jeff Bridges
1986	9 1/2 Weeks	Producer	Starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger Directed by Adrian Lyne
1986	The Clan of the Cave Bear	Executive Producer
1984	Metropolis	Sales Agent
1984	The NeverEnding Story	Executive Producer	Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
1981	Das Boot	Executive Producer	Directed by Wolfgang Petersen Nominated for Six Academy Awards
1977	The Choirboys	Executive Producer
1974	There Is No 13	George Thomas
1974	The Arena	Producer	Starred Damon's future wife Margaret Markov
1973	Crypt of the Living Dead	Peter
1973	The Devil's Wedding Night	Karl Schiller
1973	Little Mother	Riano
1972	Byleth - il demone dell'incesto	Duke Lionello Shandwell
1972	Great Treasure Hunt	Kansas Lee
1972	I leoni di Pietroburgo	Eldar
1972	Confessioni segrete di un convento di clausura	Domenico
1972	They Call Him Veritas	Veritas
1971	The Scalawag Bunch	Allen
1971	Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman	Ivanhoe
1971	Pistol Packin' Preacher	Slim
1968	Dead Men Don't Count	Johnny Dalton
1968	Anzio	Wally Richardson	Directed by Edward Dmytryk
1968	All Out	Johnny
1968	The Young, the Evil and the Savage	Richard Barrett
1968	Train for Durango	Brown
1967	Colpo doppio del camaleonte d'oro	Vittorio
1967	No Killing Without Dollars	Laurence
1967	Requiescant	George Ferguson	Also starring Pier Paolo Pasolini
1966	Johnny Yuma	Johnny Yuma
1966	Johnny Oro	Johnny Oro/Ringo	Directed by Sergio Corbucci
1966	How Do I Love You?	Luis
1965	Secret Agent 777	Dr. Bardin
1964	Son of Cleopatra	El Kebir
1964	100 Horsemen	Don Fernando Herrera y Menendez
1963	The Tyrant of Castile	Peter I: King of Castile
1963	Black Sabbath	Vladimire d'Urfe	Also starring Boris Karloff Directed by Mario Bava
1963	The Shortest Day	Un ufficiale austriaco	Directed by Sergio Corbucci
1963	The Young Racers	Stephen Children	Directed by Roger Corman
1962	The Reluctant Saint	Aldo	Directed by Edward Dmytryk
1962	The Longest Day	Pvt. Harris	Also starring Richard Burton and Sean Connery
1962	Beauty and the Beast	Eduardo
1962	Peccati d'estate	Dr. Gianni Orgei
1960	House of Usher	Philip Winthrop	Won Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer Also starring Vincent Price Directed by Roger Corman Screenplay by Richard Matheson
1960	This Rebel Breed	Frank Serano
1958	The Party Crashers	Twig Webster
1958	Life Begins at 17	Russ Lippincott
1957	Young and Dangerous	Tommy Price
1956	Between Heaven and Hell	Pvt. Terry Co. G
1956	Screaming Eagles	Pvt. Lambert
1956	Inside Detroit	Gregg Linden

[ Source: Wikipedia ]