Cinematographer Richard H. Kline talks extensively about Katzman, for whom he worked in the 1950s, in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.
Formed "B" picture production companies Victory Pictures Corp., Puritan Pictures Corp., Banner Pictures, Clover Productions.
In an interview, Huntz Hall once described what it was like working for Sam Katzman. He told how Katzman visited the set of one of the East Side Kids films they were shooting because the production was behind schedule. Katzman went to the director and said, "How many pages have you shot today?" The director said, "Five." Katzman asked, "How many are you supposed to shoot?" The director replied, "Ten." Katzman grabbed the script, tore out five pages of it and said, "You're done for the day."
Katzman is credited with coming up with the word "beatnik." Supposedly, he was at a recording studio as the score for one of his teen musicals was being put together. He heard two musicians talking, and one of them asked why a third musician they both knew didn't show up for the session. The other musician said, "That cat was just beat, Nick." Katzman misunderstood "beat, Nick" for "beatnik" (as in Sputnik), liked the sound of it, and started using it in his movies and in his everyday life to describe the younger generation he worked with. It caught on and made its way into the language.
Nephew: Leonard Katzman.
Was a regular poker buddy of veteran character actor James Flavin, with whom he maintained a close friendship for nearly 50 years.