A veteran Hollywood producer, Paul Maslansky has ha an eclectic career. He entered showbiz as a trumpet player with a number of bands in his native Manhattan. After a sojourn in radio advertising sales, Maslansky moved to Europe where her served as an assistant director and later production manager on European films, including Carol Reed's "The Running Man" (1963). He subsequently produced the first Italo-Soviet co-production, Mikhail Kalatozov's "The Red Tent" (1971), and the first joint US-USSR film venture, George Cukor's "The Blue Bird" (1976). But American audiences are probably most aware of his low-brow but extremely successful "Police Academy" franchise which has spawned six sequels and two TV versions. Returning to Moscow, Maslansky co-produced a rare prestige picture, Fred Schepisi's adaptation of John le Carre's "The Russia House" (1990), which teamed Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. Maslansky also has made occasional forays into American TV. In addition to an animated and live-action version of "Police Academy: The Series" (syndicated, 1989 and 1997 respectively), he oversaw the Emmy-nominated biographical miniseries "King" (NBC, 1978), featuring Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson.