De Rochemont, Richard

Richard De Rochemont (1903-1982) was a motion picture director and producer during the twentieth century. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated at Harvard University, De Rochemont started his motion picture career as a foreign editor for Fox-Movietone News (1930-1934). He joined Time Incorporated's "March of Time" film series, produced by Richard's brother Louis De Rochemont, in 1934 and enjoyed a notable career with this newsreel series, serving as European correspondent and managing director (1934-1940), managing director in New York City (1940-1943), and executive producer (1943-1951). As executive producer, he won an Academy Award for his production of the "March of Time" film "A Chance to Live" (1949). In 1955, De Rochemont founded his own film production company, Vivan Incorporated, and produced instructional films for a number of organizations between the mid 1950s and early 1980s, including the French Government, Reader's Digest Association, and the U.S. Department of State. In addition to his work in the film industry, De Rochemont was the author of several cookbooks, including "Contemporary French Cooking" (1962), "The Pets' Cookbook" (1964), and "Eating in America" (1976).