Chicago Sun Times
By Maureen O’Donnell
1/7/2017
They might not have been “La La Land” or “Rogue One,” but
the movies Albert J. Nader wrote, produced or packaged bloomed into a library
totaling more than 5,000 titles, many of them hardy perennials of the video
world now available through online streaming.
Mr. Nader, who grew up near Wrigley Field and lived on
Lake Shore Drive, died Dec. 22 from a suspected aortic aneurysm or heart attack
on a family vacation in Palm Springs, California, said his wife, Gemma Allen
Nader. He was 84.
He founded Questar, a Michigan Avenue company that
produces, acquires and distributes video programming under the slogan
“Everything in the World Worth Watching.”
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From nature to history to baseball, Questar offered videos
and then DVDs, Blu-Rays and streaming video with appeal to both mass audiences
and niche markets, like “Where Jesus Walked,” “My Classic Car,” “Best of Minnie
Pearl” and “The Original Flash Gordon.”
Then, there are its animal features: “First Flight: A
Mother Hummingbird’s Story,” “Running of the Bulls” (Live from Pamplona Spain)
and “All God’s Creatures. . . .There When You Need Them!”
Its hipper fare includes chef Anthony Bourdain’s Food
Network show, “A Cook’s Tour.”
After visiting the Palm Springs Air Museum, he added
great air battles to Questar’s catalogue.
“He saw opportunity everywhere,” Gemma Allen Nader said.
Thanks to multiple generations of TV watchers and
armchair travelers, what Mr. Nader packaged never stopped selling. Some of
Questar’s most popular videos feature Victor Borge, Andy Williams and Bobby
Darin, as well as great railway vacations, famous baseball stadiums and
national parks. Its Civil War videos combined historic re-enactments with new
travel footage.
“He caught the wave of home video and then DVDs and
turned it into one of the largest producers of independent, special-interest
programming,” said Dennis Burkhart, an Oregon filmmaker who has worked for
National Geographic.
After Mr. Nader contacted him with an idea about filming
national parks, they collaborated on 30 one-hour programs.
71nziz7syol-_sy445_Mr. Nader, who was active with Moody
Church, also developed video programming with inspirational and religious
themes. A program he helped create for the former Pax TV channel, “It’s a
Miracle,” with host Richard Thomas, is still in distribution.
Questar gained its footing with gorgeous photography and
voiceovers from stars including Shari Belafonte, Peter Coyote, Jeff Daniels,
Richard Kiley, Joe Mantegna, Martin Sheen and James Whitmore.
Mr. Nader guided Questar through changing technology, his
wife said. Its videos are available on Hulu, Roku, Amazon and Netflix.
His company also produced programs for the Discovery
Channel, the History Channel, the Travel Channel and PBS, and it streams
educational programming to classrooms on math, ocean life and historical
figures such as Sacagawea.
Mr. Nader grew up on the North Side, attended Blaine
grade school and played baseball and basketball for Lake View High School. His
Assyrian father, Joshua, immigrated from Iran and married Olga, a Chicago woman
of Assyrian heritage. The father operated a tailor shop near the Biograph
Theater. Mr. Nader graduated from DePaul University and served in the Marines
as a first lieutenant, according to his wife.
Earlier in his career, he worked for Sears, Montgomery
Ward and Rand McNally, where he helped develop films, globes, maps and
textbooks for libraries and schools. He also co-founded an ad agency,
Nader-Lief.
In 1978, he started Questar, though his wife said
naysayers told him, “What are you thinking? Everyone’s got a TV.”
“He said, ‘No, I think videos are something people want
to collect,’ ” she said.
Mr. Nader wrote scripts or assembled teams to put together
travel movies. Later, the company expanded its catalogue to history and
baseball.
When he compiled videos on stars, their families and
estate lawyers “would entrust things to Albert,” his wife said. “Albert was
very charismatic and 100 percent trustworthy, and his Chicago roots were part
of that. He’d start out with a cold call and end up with a relationship.”
And he understood a basic fact of his business, she said:
“You have to be a really faithful royalty-payer.”
The Naders met in 1995 after he lost his first wife,
Barbara, to breast cancer.
Questar will continue, she said: “He had a great team in
place.”
Mr. Nader is also survived by a daughter Page Weissmann,
son Jason Nader, stepdaughter Bridget Wiley and stepson Sean Hagerty. A
memorial service — featuring video about Mr. Nader — is planned for 10 a.m.
Jan. 14 at Moody Church, 1635 N. LaSalle. His six grandchildren plan to wear
blue blazers and white pocket squares — his signature lo
NADER, Albert
J.
Born: 8/1/1932,
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Died:
12/22/2016, Palm Springs, California, U.S.A.
Albert J. Nader’s
westerns – producer:
America’s Greatest Indian Leaders – 1994
Sacagawea - 2003
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