Hollywood producer and studio executive who won an Oscar for Braveheart but was also responsible in large part for the making of many other famous films including Star Wars, Alien, Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, The Right Stuff, A Fish Called Wanda, and Thelma & Louise. He was also the son of the popular actor Alan Ladd.
Age 84.
RIP Alan Ladd Jr.
-
silverscreenselect
- Posts: 23257
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:21 pm
- Contact:
RIP Alan Ladd Jr.
Check out our website: http://www.silverscreenvideos.com
-
themanintheseersuckersuit
- Posts: 7619
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:37 pm
- Location: South Carolina
Re: RIP Alan Ladd Jr.
Also helped with The Producers, but did balk at the original title .
Suitguy is not bitter.
feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive
The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.
feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive
The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.
-
Bob Juch
- Posts: 26461
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
- Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
- Contact:
Re: RIP Alan Ladd Jr.
Here are his mini-bios from IMDb:
Alan Ladd Jr. is one of the industry's most respected executives. He started in the movies as an agent in 1963. In 1969, Ladd moved to London to produce, making nine films. He returned to the States in '73 to become Head of Creative Affairs at Fox. Within three very successful years Mr. Ladd was President of Twentieth Century Fox. Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979) and Young Frankenstein (1974), were a few of the classics during his tenure. But, in 1979, Ladd left his position as President at Fox to found his own production company, The Ladd Company. He enjoyed great successes with comedies like Night Shift (1982) and Police Academy (1984) and Oscar winners' The Right Stuff (1983) and Best Picture, Chariots of Fire (1981). In 1985, Ladd joined MGM/UA, eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of Pathe Entertainment. During his tenure, MGM/UA enjoyed hits like A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Moonstruck (1987) and Thelma & Louise (1991). Ladd reformed the Ladd Company with Paramount Pictures in 1993 where he produced the hits The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and Best Picture winner: Braveheart (1995). Mr. Ladd is now producing independently with The Ladd Company.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: sdylank@yahoo.com
Throughout his career, Alan Ladd, Jr. has distinguished himself as one of the motion picture industry's most groundbreaking, resolute, respected, well-liked executives and producers. His reputation as a professional and humanitarian precede him. His films have grossed billions of dollars, garnered over 150 Academy Award nominations, 50 Academy Award wins, countless Golden Globes and Palme d'Or honors, and a seemingly endless array of other accolades.
Ladd began his career in the industry in 1963 as a motion picture talent agent at Creative Management Associates. His client list included Judy Garland, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. Five years later, he shifted gears and turned to independent production. He moved to London, where he produced his first nine films in just four years, working with such acclaimed actors as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Sir Ian Holm, Lord Richard Attenborough, Sir Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Marlon Brando. In 1973, Twentieth Century Fox called and persuaded Ladd to return to Los Angeles to become their Head of Creative Affairs. Ladd quickly rose through the executive ranks and, by 1976, was named President of Twentieth Century Fox. During Ladd's tenure, Fox enjoyed tremendous financial and critical success. Soon after he began work as President, Ladd went to a screening of a new movie, which had yet to be released. Impressed by what he saw, Ladd set a meeting with American Graffiti (1973)'s young director, George Lucas. Ladd asked Lucas if he had any ideas for future projects he hoped to make, and Lucas proceeded to describe an ambitious, character-driven science fiction story set in outer space. Though nothing like it had ever been done before and the costs were high on all fronts, Ladd loved the idea and decided to take a chance on Lucas and his vision. He commissioned Lucas to write this screenplay for Fox, and the resulting "Star Wars" franchise went on to gross billions of dollars, became a worldwide phenomenon, and, in introducing the blockbuster to the Hollywood industry, forever changed the face of moviemaking.
In addition to the wild success of Star Wars (1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Ladd greenlit and/or saw to completion some of the most profitable and iconographic films in Fox's history (and, arguably, Hollywood's history). Ridley Scott's box office smash Alien (1979) (one AA win, another AA nom) spawned Oscar-winning sequels, becoming a highly successful franchise for Fox. Julia (1977), starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards earned a total of 11 Oscar nominations and three wins. The Towering Inferno (1974), with its all-star cast of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Faye Dunaway and Richard Chamberlain, was a commercial hit, garnering 8 total Oscar nominations, and three wins. Academy Award-winning hit The Omen (1976), directed by Richard Donner and starring Gregory Peck, would prove lucrative to Fox for many years. Not only did successful sequels follow, Fox released a remake of the same name in 2006, which was an instant box-office sensation. Other noteworthy Fox releases Ladd guided through include: Kagemusha (1980) (2 AA noms), Young Frankenstein (1974) (2 AA noms), Breaking Away (1979) (one AA win, another 4 AA noms), Norma Rae (1979) (2 AA wins, another 2 AA noms), The Boys from Brazil (1978) (3 AA noms), The Turning Point (1977) (11 AA noms), An Unmarried Woman (1978) (3 AA noms), All That Jazz (1979) (4 AA wins, another 5 AA noms), Silver Streak (1976) (AA nom), The Rose (1979) (4 AA noms), 9 to 5 (1980) (AA nom) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), to name just a few. Under Ladd's reign, both Fox and its shareholders reaped great benefits: the studio's profits soared, and its stock went up a staggering 1600%.
Ladd made human rights history in the mid-1970s when he named Ashley Boone Fox's President of Marketing and Distribution. Boone was the first African-American to achieve President status in Hollywood. (Ladd's and Boone's partnership would become a lasting one - Ladd later took Boone with him when he left Fox to form "The Ladd Company" and then run MGM.) Ladd's pioneering ways also extended to women in Hollywood's workforce. At the time Ladd held Fox's chair, plenty of studios employed female secretaries and assistants, but no other studio hired as many female executives as Fox under Ladd. Ladd believed in equality among the sexes and across racial lines. He would always hire the best person for the job, blind to sex or race. Ladd's views and actions set the stage for other studio heads to follow suit, firmly establishing the human rights movement in Hollywood.
In 1979, Ladd decided to return to producing, and left Fox to form "The Ladd Company". Under this banner, Ladd won his first Best Picture Academy Award with Chariots of Fire (1981), which earned another 3 Oscar wins and 3 nominations. In this, Ladd's second incarnation as producer, The Ladd Company created such critical and box office successes as The Right Stuff (1983) (4 AA wins, another 4 AA noms), 'Ridley Scott (I)''s Blade Runner (1982) (2 AA noms), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), and the top-grossing "Police Academy" comedies. With the success of Night Shift (1980), Ladd again proved his ability to recognize and support young talent, in hiring directing newcomer Ron Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer, who would go on to become one of the most powerful teams in Hollywood. Night Shift (1980) also launched the career of then-unknown Michael Keaton, who became a breakout star after the movie's release. Six years and many films later, Ladd was again tapped to run a studio-MGM/UA. He dissolved "The Ladd Company" and took over MGM/UA in 1985. As Chairman and CEO of the studio, Ladd continued the traditions of the hugely popular "Rocky" and "Poltergeist" franchises, releasing the box office smash Rocky IV (1985) and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) (AA nom). Ladd was responsible for still more hits at MGM/UA: A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (one AA win, another 2 AA noms), Benny & Joon (1993), Moonstruck (1987) (3 AA wins, another 3 AA noms), Mel Brooks' Spaceballs (1987), Ron Howard 's _Willow (1980)_ (2 AA noms) and _Thelma and Louise (1980)_ (one AA win, another 5 AA noms)-a film which put a young Brad Pitt on the map.
In 1993, Ladd left the executive suite for good, reestablishing "The Ladd Company" at Paramount Pictures. This alliance yielded even more successes for Ladd. He again took a chance on a promising filmmaker. Again, it paid off. Actor Mel Gibson's second directing effort, Braveheart (1995), became a critical and box-office success, earning 10 Academy Award nominations and 5 Oscar wins-including Best Director for Gibson and another Best Picture for Ladd.
The Ladd Company followed this smash with the high-grossing "Brady Bunch" movie franchise, and landed Leonardo DiCaprio in first post-Titanic (1997) film, The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). Ladd chose to move The Ladd Company off the Paramount lot six years later to continue producing his projects independently.
Even without the aid of a studio, Ladd continues to find success. In 2005, with Miramax, Ladd put together a star-studded cast for Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström's An Unfinished Life (2005), which starred Jennifer Lopez, Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, and re-teamed Ladd with his one-time client, actor and Academy Award-winning director, Robert Redford.
Ladd just wrapped production on Gone Baby Gone (2007), the highly anticipated directorial debut of Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck. This Ladd Company film, starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, is slated for a fall 2007 release.
Ladd's upcoming production slate includes the English drama The Story of 'The Tortoise & the Hare' (2002), and the historical Chinese epic A Dream of Red Mansions (2011), to star Ken Watanabe and Kate Hudson.
Ladd's career, already spanning five decades, is still going strong. He has found success as an agent, an independent producer and studio head. In addition to his extensive list of credits, Ladd stays busy as a member of the Producer's Guild of America, the American Film Institute Second Decade Council, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has served on the Academy Board of Governors and received an honorary degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema Television, where he was instrumental in shaping the curriculum of the Critical Studies program.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: The Ladd Company
Alan Ladd Jr. is one of the industry's most respected executives. He started in the movies as an agent in 1963. In 1969, Ladd moved to London to produce, making nine films. He returned to the States in '73 to become Head of Creative Affairs at Fox. Within three very successful years Mr. Ladd was President of Twentieth Century Fox. Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979) and Young Frankenstein (1974), were a few of the classics during his tenure. But, in 1979, Ladd left his position as President at Fox to found his own production company, The Ladd Company. He enjoyed great successes with comedies like Night Shift (1982) and Police Academy (1984) and Oscar winners' The Right Stuff (1983) and Best Picture, Chariots of Fire (1981). In 1985, Ladd joined MGM/UA, eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of Pathe Entertainment. During his tenure, MGM/UA enjoyed hits like A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Moonstruck (1987) and Thelma & Louise (1991). Ladd reformed the Ladd Company with Paramount Pictures in 1993 where he produced the hits The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and Best Picture winner: Braveheart (1995). Mr. Ladd is now producing independently with The Ladd Company.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: sdylank@yahoo.com
Throughout his career, Alan Ladd, Jr. has distinguished himself as one of the motion picture industry's most groundbreaking, resolute, respected, well-liked executives and producers. His reputation as a professional and humanitarian precede him. His films have grossed billions of dollars, garnered over 150 Academy Award nominations, 50 Academy Award wins, countless Golden Globes and Palme d'Or honors, and a seemingly endless array of other accolades.
Ladd began his career in the industry in 1963 as a motion picture talent agent at Creative Management Associates. His client list included Judy Garland, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. Five years later, he shifted gears and turned to independent production. He moved to London, where he produced his first nine films in just four years, working with such acclaimed actors as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Sir Ian Holm, Lord Richard Attenborough, Sir Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Marlon Brando. In 1973, Twentieth Century Fox called and persuaded Ladd to return to Los Angeles to become their Head of Creative Affairs. Ladd quickly rose through the executive ranks and, by 1976, was named President of Twentieth Century Fox. During Ladd's tenure, Fox enjoyed tremendous financial and critical success. Soon after he began work as President, Ladd went to a screening of a new movie, which had yet to be released. Impressed by what he saw, Ladd set a meeting with American Graffiti (1973)'s young director, George Lucas. Ladd asked Lucas if he had any ideas for future projects he hoped to make, and Lucas proceeded to describe an ambitious, character-driven science fiction story set in outer space. Though nothing like it had ever been done before and the costs were high on all fronts, Ladd loved the idea and decided to take a chance on Lucas and his vision. He commissioned Lucas to write this screenplay for Fox, and the resulting "Star Wars" franchise went on to gross billions of dollars, became a worldwide phenomenon, and, in introducing the blockbuster to the Hollywood industry, forever changed the face of moviemaking.
In addition to the wild success of Star Wars (1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Ladd greenlit and/or saw to completion some of the most profitable and iconographic films in Fox's history (and, arguably, Hollywood's history). Ridley Scott's box office smash Alien (1979) (one AA win, another AA nom) spawned Oscar-winning sequels, becoming a highly successful franchise for Fox. Julia (1977), starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards earned a total of 11 Oscar nominations and three wins. The Towering Inferno (1974), with its all-star cast of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Faye Dunaway and Richard Chamberlain, was a commercial hit, garnering 8 total Oscar nominations, and three wins. Academy Award-winning hit The Omen (1976), directed by Richard Donner and starring Gregory Peck, would prove lucrative to Fox for many years. Not only did successful sequels follow, Fox released a remake of the same name in 2006, which was an instant box-office sensation. Other noteworthy Fox releases Ladd guided through include: Kagemusha (1980) (2 AA noms), Young Frankenstein (1974) (2 AA noms), Breaking Away (1979) (one AA win, another 4 AA noms), Norma Rae (1979) (2 AA wins, another 2 AA noms), The Boys from Brazil (1978) (3 AA noms), The Turning Point (1977) (11 AA noms), An Unmarried Woman (1978) (3 AA noms), All That Jazz (1979) (4 AA wins, another 5 AA noms), Silver Streak (1976) (AA nom), The Rose (1979) (4 AA noms), 9 to 5 (1980) (AA nom) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), to name just a few. Under Ladd's reign, both Fox and its shareholders reaped great benefits: the studio's profits soared, and its stock went up a staggering 1600%.
Ladd made human rights history in the mid-1970s when he named Ashley Boone Fox's President of Marketing and Distribution. Boone was the first African-American to achieve President status in Hollywood. (Ladd's and Boone's partnership would become a lasting one - Ladd later took Boone with him when he left Fox to form "The Ladd Company" and then run MGM.) Ladd's pioneering ways also extended to women in Hollywood's workforce. At the time Ladd held Fox's chair, plenty of studios employed female secretaries and assistants, but no other studio hired as many female executives as Fox under Ladd. Ladd believed in equality among the sexes and across racial lines. He would always hire the best person for the job, blind to sex or race. Ladd's views and actions set the stage for other studio heads to follow suit, firmly establishing the human rights movement in Hollywood.
In 1979, Ladd decided to return to producing, and left Fox to form "The Ladd Company". Under this banner, Ladd won his first Best Picture Academy Award with Chariots of Fire (1981), which earned another 3 Oscar wins and 3 nominations. In this, Ladd's second incarnation as producer, The Ladd Company created such critical and box office successes as The Right Stuff (1983) (4 AA wins, another 4 AA noms), 'Ridley Scott (I)''s Blade Runner (1982) (2 AA noms), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), and the top-grossing "Police Academy" comedies. With the success of Night Shift (1980), Ladd again proved his ability to recognize and support young talent, in hiring directing newcomer Ron Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer, who would go on to become one of the most powerful teams in Hollywood. Night Shift (1980) also launched the career of then-unknown Michael Keaton, who became a breakout star after the movie's release. Six years and many films later, Ladd was again tapped to run a studio-MGM/UA. He dissolved "The Ladd Company" and took over MGM/UA in 1985. As Chairman and CEO of the studio, Ladd continued the traditions of the hugely popular "Rocky" and "Poltergeist" franchises, releasing the box office smash Rocky IV (1985) and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) (AA nom). Ladd was responsible for still more hits at MGM/UA: A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (one AA win, another 2 AA noms), Benny & Joon (1993), Moonstruck (1987) (3 AA wins, another 3 AA noms), Mel Brooks' Spaceballs (1987), Ron Howard 's _Willow (1980)_ (2 AA noms) and _Thelma and Louise (1980)_ (one AA win, another 5 AA noms)-a film which put a young Brad Pitt on the map.
In 1993, Ladd left the executive suite for good, reestablishing "The Ladd Company" at Paramount Pictures. This alliance yielded even more successes for Ladd. He again took a chance on a promising filmmaker. Again, it paid off. Actor Mel Gibson's second directing effort, Braveheart (1995), became a critical and box-office success, earning 10 Academy Award nominations and 5 Oscar wins-including Best Director for Gibson and another Best Picture for Ladd.
The Ladd Company followed this smash with the high-grossing "Brady Bunch" movie franchise, and landed Leonardo DiCaprio in first post-Titanic (1997) film, The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). Ladd chose to move The Ladd Company off the Paramount lot six years later to continue producing his projects independently.
Even without the aid of a studio, Ladd continues to find success. In 2005, with Miramax, Ladd put together a star-studded cast for Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström's An Unfinished Life (2005), which starred Jennifer Lopez, Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, and re-teamed Ladd with his one-time client, actor and Academy Award-winning director, Robert Redford.
Ladd just wrapped production on Gone Baby Gone (2007), the highly anticipated directorial debut of Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck. This Ladd Company film, starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, is slated for a fall 2007 release.
Ladd's upcoming production slate includes the English drama The Story of 'The Tortoise & the Hare' (2002), and the historical Chinese epic A Dream of Red Mansions (2011), to star Ken Watanabe and Kate Hudson.
Ladd's career, already spanning five decades, is still going strong. He has found success as an agent, an independent producer and studio head. In addition to his extensive list of credits, Ladd stays busy as a member of the Producer's Guild of America, the American Film Institute Second Decade Council, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has served on the Academy Board of Governors and received an honorary degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema Television, where he was instrumental in shaping the curriculum of the Critical Studies program.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: The Ladd Company
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.