Robert Richter, Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 95

Robert Richter, an independent filmmaker and producer whose credits include nearly 90 documentaries on a wide range of subjects, died at his home in New York City on February 16 following complications associated with heart failure. He was 95.

A three-time Academy Award nominee for best documentary short, Richter’s expanse of accolades included a 2008 National Emmy for “exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking” as executive producer on the HBO version of his documentary feature “The Last Atomic Bomb,” and three duPont Columbia Broadcast Journalism awards (TV’s Pulitzer Prize). Richter was the only independent producer to receive the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global 500 Award.

Born and raised in New York City, Richter’s decades-long career in filmmaking began at Occidental College in California with an experimental Telluride Association program, followed by a B.A. from Reed College in Oregon and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

While studying on a CBS Foundation Scholarship for a Public Law and Government M.A. at Coumbia, Richter joined the Edward R. Murrow-Fred Friendly documentary team and produced primetime documentaries and news features alongside Walter Cronkite.

Richter left CBS in 1968 to pursue independent filmmaking under his company Richter Productions, Inc., where he made over 50 documentaries for primetime television. Richter produced documentaries for ABC with Peter Jennings as correspondent, for NBC with Phil Donahue, for PBS “Nova” and for other independent PBS programs.

In addition to producing and filmmaking, Richter led the committee that launched what developed into the nation’s largest funder of documentaries by independent producers: the Independent Television Service (ITVS). He spent a decade as volunteer president of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, and seven years on the International Documentary Association board as their New York representative. He was also founding chair of the Salem chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, served on the national ACLU media committee, a board member of CARE, USA, and a Reed College Board of Trustees member.

His memoir “Documentaries and Serendipity” was published in 2022. Richter is survived by his wife of 43 years, Elizabeth (Libby) Bassett; four daughters Roxanne, Allison, Rowena and Isabella, and three grandchildren Sophia, Samuel and Cyres.