AllMovie

A producer well known for his Oscar-winning feature documentary The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1976), James Hager spent his early career producing spaghetti Westerns before hitting his stride as a distributor of such films as Woodstock and Gimme Shelter. Graduating from U.C.L.A. in 1962 and subsequently embarking on a successful career as a stockbroker, Hager, alongside producing partner Pietro Notarianni, ventured into filmmaking by producing such Westerns as Samurai on Horseback and A Stranger in Town (1966). Hager later co-founded Canadian/American distribution studio Canamco in the 1970s before shooting to fame for Everest.