Leon Gast

90, from Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Biography

Leon Gast is an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary When We Were Kings depicting the iconic heavyweight boxing match termed The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman won the 1996 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award. Gast co-directed the 1977 documentary The Grateful Dead Movie with guitarist Jerry Garcia. The film captured the band's October 1974 five-night performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Gast also co-directed the 1983 film Hell's Angels Forever.

A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Gast studied dramatic arts at Columbia University, and in that same period worked the television series High Adventure with writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas. Gast is also known for his still photography which has appeared in such magazines as Vogue, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar.

Gast's most recent project is a documentary entitled Smash His Camera, a film about paparazzi photographer Ron Galella. The film won "Best Director" of a documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Leon Gast, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Timeline

2025Aged 89

  • Poster for The Grateful Dead Movie 2025 Meet-Up

    Director

2015Aged 79

2014Aged 78

  • Poster for Manny

    Director

2010Aged 74

  • Poster for Smash His Camera

    Director

2009Aged 73

  • Poster for Soul Power

    Producer

2003Aged 67

1998Aged 62

  • Poster for B.B. King: Live In Africa '74

    Producer

1996Aged 60

  • Poster for Muhammad Ali The Whole Story

    Editor

  • Poster for When We Were Kings

    Writer

1993Aged 57

1983Aged 47

  • Poster for Hells Angels Forever

    Director

1977Aged 41

  • Poster for The Grateful Dead Movie

    Director

1976Aged 40

  • Poster for Salsa

    Writer

1972Aged 36

  • Poster for Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa)

    Director