Post by thechase on Mar 2, 2022 14:17:40 GMT -5
Alan Ladd Jr, the veteran film producer who won a Best Picture Oscar for Braveheart, commissioned George Lucas to write Star Wars and was a longtime executive for Fox and MGM, died today, his family said. He was 84.
His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the 2017 feature documentary Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies wrote on social media: “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.”
His brother David Ladd posted on Facebook: “My brother, my friend, my hero, who always stood by my side. We will stand together again on the other side! I love you Laddie.”
Along with Star Wars and Braveheart, Ladd was responsible for some of Hollywood’s all-time biggest titles as a producer and studio boss, including Alien, Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire, the Police Academy franchise, Thelma & Louise and Young Frankenstein.
Overall, his films earned more than 50 Academy Awards — including two Best Picture winners — from more than 150 nominations.
Born on October 22, 1937, in Los Angeles, Ladd Jr. was the son of Golden Globe-winning actor Alan Ladd and grew up in the industry. He began producing films in the early 1970s after getting his start in the business as as a motion picture talent agent at Creative Management Associates. His client list included Judy Garland, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. He relocated to London, where he produced nine features in four years.
From left: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in ‘Star Wars’ (1977)
Lucasfilm
A man of few words relative to the industry’s chattering norms and with a low-key style, hen he was just 37 when he returned to Los Angeles in 1973 to serve as Head of Creative Affairs at Twentieth Century Fox. He rose through the ranks quickly and was named studio president in 1976. Soon after joining Fox, he was intrigued by a then-unreleased American Graffiti and sought a meeting with its young director, George Lucas, to see if he has any ideas for another film. Lucas outlined a character-driven outer-space story.
Despite little precedent for such a movie, Ladd loved the idea and commissioned Lucas to write what would become Star Wars.
Ladd later would greenlight and/or shepherd such smash Fox films as Return of the Jedi, Alien, The Omen, The Towering Inferno, Young Frankenstein, Norma Rae, All That Jazz, Silver Streak, The Rose and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
During his tenure at Twentieth Century Fox, the studio’s profits went to another galaxy, and its stock rocketed by 1,600%. During the mid-’70s, Ladd would name Ashley Boone as Fox’s President of Marketing — making him the first Black person to be president of a studio division. His sister Cheryl Boone-Issacs later become the first Black president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
He left Fox in 1979 to returning to producing and formed The Ladd Company. It was a quick success, scoring a Palme d’Or at Cannes for Akiro Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (1980) and Best Picture Oscar win for Chariots of Fire (1981). The company followed with such popular and acclaimed films as Blade Runner (1982) — starring Star Wars and American Graffiti‘s Harrison Ford — and The Right Stuff (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and the lucrative Police Academy movies.
From left: Shelley Long, Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton in ‘Night Shift’ (1982)
Everett Collection.
Ladd also hired an up-and-coming child actor-turned-action star-turned aspiring director to helm the 1982 morgue-set comedy Night Shift. Ron Howard would go on to win a pair of Oscars and become one of Hollywood’s biggest players. Night Shift featured Howard’s Happy Days co-star alongside a young TV actor named Michael Keaton — launching the latter’s feature career. A pre-Cheers Shelley Long also starred.
Fast-forward to 1985, when Ladd took over MGM/United Artists.
Ladd dissolved his production company to become Chairman and CEO of the studio, scoring a quick hit with Rocky IV (1985). He went on to shepherd such MGM/UA classics as Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck (1987), Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (1987), John Cleese’s A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and Howard’s Willow and Thelma and Louise (1980), from Alien helmer Ridley Scott.
Ladd would quit the executive life in 1993, resurrecting The Ladd Company at Paramount Pictures. There, he rolled the dice on another action star-turned-filmmaker. Mel Gibson had helmed only the 1993 drama The Man Without a Face when he went behind the camera to direct himself in Braveheart. The 1995 tale of fabled Scottish warrior William Wallace went on to win five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.
The Ladd Company later made The Brady Bunch films and The Man in the Iron Mask, the latter starring Leonardo DiCaprio in is first post-Titanic role.
The company exited Paramount in 1999, and his first film afterward would be Lasse Hallstrom’s 2005 An Unfinished Life for Miramax, starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman. The Ladd Company followed that up with Gone Baby Gone, the 2007 thriller directed by and starring Ben Affleck.
His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the 2017 feature documentary Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies wrote on social media: “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.”
His brother David Ladd posted on Facebook: “My brother, my friend, my hero, who always stood by my side. We will stand together again on the other side! I love you Laddie.”
Along with Star Wars and Braveheart, Ladd was responsible for some of Hollywood’s all-time biggest titles as a producer and studio boss, including Alien, Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire, the Police Academy franchise, Thelma & Louise and Young Frankenstein.
Overall, his films earned more than 50 Academy Awards — including two Best Picture winners — from more than 150 nominations.
Born on October 22, 1937, in Los Angeles, Ladd Jr. was the son of Golden Globe-winning actor Alan Ladd and grew up in the industry. He began producing films in the early 1970s after getting his start in the business as as a motion picture talent agent at Creative Management Associates. His client list included Judy Garland, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. He relocated to London, where he produced nine features in four years.
From left: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in ‘Star Wars’ (1977)
Lucasfilm
A man of few words relative to the industry’s chattering norms and with a low-key style, hen he was just 37 when he returned to Los Angeles in 1973 to serve as Head of Creative Affairs at Twentieth Century Fox. He rose through the ranks quickly and was named studio president in 1976. Soon after joining Fox, he was intrigued by a then-unreleased American Graffiti and sought a meeting with its young director, George Lucas, to see if he has any ideas for another film. Lucas outlined a character-driven outer-space story.
Despite little precedent for such a movie, Ladd loved the idea and commissioned Lucas to write what would become Star Wars.
Ladd later would greenlight and/or shepherd such smash Fox films as Return of the Jedi, Alien, The Omen, The Towering Inferno, Young Frankenstein, Norma Rae, All That Jazz, Silver Streak, The Rose and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
During his tenure at Twentieth Century Fox, the studio’s profits went to another galaxy, and its stock rocketed by 1,600%. During the mid-’70s, Ladd would name Ashley Boone as Fox’s President of Marketing — making him the first Black person to be president of a studio division. His sister Cheryl Boone-Issacs later become the first Black president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
He left Fox in 1979 to returning to producing and formed The Ladd Company. It was a quick success, scoring a Palme d’Or at Cannes for Akiro Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (1980) and Best Picture Oscar win for Chariots of Fire (1981). The company followed with such popular and acclaimed films as Blade Runner (1982) — starring Star Wars and American Graffiti‘s Harrison Ford — and The Right Stuff (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and the lucrative Police Academy movies.
From left: Shelley Long, Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton in ‘Night Shift’ (1982)
Everett Collection.
Ladd also hired an up-and-coming child actor-turned-action star-turned aspiring director to helm the 1982 morgue-set comedy Night Shift. Ron Howard would go on to win a pair of Oscars and become one of Hollywood’s biggest players. Night Shift featured Howard’s Happy Days co-star alongside a young TV actor named Michael Keaton — launching the latter’s feature career. A pre-Cheers Shelley Long also starred.
Fast-forward to 1985, when Ladd took over MGM/United Artists.
Ladd dissolved his production company to become Chairman and CEO of the studio, scoring a quick hit with Rocky IV (1985). He went on to shepherd such MGM/UA classics as Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck (1987), Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (1987), John Cleese’s A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and Howard’s Willow and Thelma and Louise (1980), from Alien helmer Ridley Scott.
Ladd would quit the executive life in 1993, resurrecting The Ladd Company at Paramount Pictures. There, he rolled the dice on another action star-turned-filmmaker. Mel Gibson had helmed only the 1993 drama The Man Without a Face when he went behind the camera to direct himself in Braveheart. The 1995 tale of fabled Scottish warrior William Wallace went on to win five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.
The Ladd Company later made The Brady Bunch films and The Man in the Iron Mask, the latter starring Leonardo DiCaprio in is first post-Titanic role.
The company exited Paramount in 1999, and his first film afterward would be Lasse Hallstrom’s 2005 An Unfinished Life for Miramax, starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman. The Ladd Company followed that up with Gone Baby Gone, the 2007 thriller directed by and starring Ben Affleck.
deadline.com/2022/03/alan-ladd-jr-dead-braveheart-producer-star-wars-mgm-fox-executive-1234969014/
