Carl Samrock, former VP of publicity at Warner Bros. Pictures who started out as an entertainment photographer for the New York Times, died Saturday night of pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
The news of his death was confirmed by his wife, Carol Andelman Samrock.
Samrock served as Warner Bros. Pictures’ vice president of national publicity under chairmen Bob Daly and Terry Semel. He joined the company in 1982 as West Coast publicity director, in which he later oversaw a 16-member staff that handled the publicity on nearly 30 films in production or release annually.
In 1997, Samrock moved to Warner Home Video as a consultant to help then-president Warren Lieberfarb introduce the new DVD format. Samrock founded Carl Samrock Public Relations in 1998, a boutique firm that focused on publicity and promotion campaigns for major studios’ DVD and Blu-ray releases, including Warner’s “The Wizard of Oz,” “Casablanca” and “Gone With the Wind.”
Born on June 1, 1941, Samrock was the son of Broadway producer and manager Victor Samrock and Hyla Rubin Samrock, a former member of the Doris Humphreys modern dance troupe.
After graduating from Tufts University in 1965, he worked as a theatrical press agent on shows including Broadway’s “The Subject Was Roses,” “Private Lives” “In Praise of Love,” “A Day in the Life of Joe Egg,” “I Have a Dream” and Off-Broadway’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”
From the late ’60s to mid-’70s, Samrock was a freelance photographer, specializing in entertainment and editorial work. In particular, he captured personality portraits for the arts and leisure section of the New York Times, as well as publicity photos for Warner Bros. Records, Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and WNET.
In addition to his wife Carol, he is survived by his sons Gabriel (Faye Hudson) and Steven (Katsue Anzai), sister Ellen and granddaughter Daisy.
