Super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, one of the top guns in television and film, returned to his alma mater Saturday to collect an honorary degree from the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts.
"It's so nostalgic," he said during a brief interview following the afternoon commencement ceremony. "I had some of the best years of my life here, and it's a thrill to be back where I had so many good times."
Bruckheimer left Tucson in 1967, armed with a psychology degree, and quickly made a splash in television advertising. The first movie with his name in the credits as a producer was "Farewell, My Lovely," a 1975 film starring Robert Mitchum.
Along with his college roommate, Don Simpson, who died in 1996, Bruckheimer ruled the box office during the 1980s. The team produced "Flashdance," the "Beverly Hills Cop" movies and "Top Gun."
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The mention of the latter drew the loudest cheers from the class of 2006 assembled at McKale Center. Bruckheimer didn't speak to the graduates, but smiled widely in ceremonial garb as his accomplishments were summarized by Fine Arts Dean Maurice Sevigny.
Many of the graduates have never known a world without the sort of fireball-spitting Hollywood blockbuster that Bruckheimer and his partner pioneered. His bombastic, high-concept flicks didn't care much for character development and were routinely dismissed by critics.
Even so, Bruckheimer's success at the box office is nearly unequaled. And he's had astonishing success in television as well.
Jerry Bruckheimer Productions was responsible for a record 10 shows on network television during the 2005-06 season, including three "CSIs" and "Cold Case." Bruckheimer, sticking to a nitty-gritty formula that has proven to be ratings gold, has almost single-handedly turned the police procedural into an art form of its own.
Not that Bruckheimer has left the movies behind. He produced "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" in 2003, which grossed more than $300 million in the United States alone, and its sequel, which opens July 7.
While his movies tend to be big and loud, Bruckheimer is a small man who spoke in soft, measured tones on Saturday afternoon.
Although he has earned many awards, including two Emmys for his television work, the honorary doctorate of fine arts is a first.
"My mother would be very pleased," said Bruckheimer, who shared the podium Saturday with Gov. Janet Napolitano, who gave a commencement speech, and Ben Vereen, who lavished grads with a rendition of "The Impossible Dream."
Given the producer's extraordinary financial achievement, one couldn't help but wonder if his UA hosts had hit him up for a donation.
"Not yet," said Bruckheimer.
