Robert Evans, the American film producer, former studio executive, and industry fixture once called the “boy-king” of Hollywood passed away on Saturday.
after the director turned in an initial cut that resembled, in Evans’s words, ‘a long, bad trailer for a really good film.’” Hisinto filmmaking still resonate: “Don’t negotiate a deal you’re not prepared to blow,” “Own the property, [and] you’re a king; if not, you’re a peon,“ “Compromise yourself, but not the integrity of the film,” “If you have too much reverence for something, it will invariably turn out underwhelming,” “Film is like parachute jumping.... You get one shot.
He also seemed to have nine lives: There were the divorces, some trouble with narcotics, and an ex-girlfriend arrested for the 1983 murder of a producer on one of his films. In 1989, afraid he might commit suicide, he checked himself into Scripps Memorial Hospital near San Diego. He left the next day. Five years later, his memoir came out, and he was a star all over again, the original audiobook narrated in his own signature velvet rasp.
In later years, and after suffering three strokes in 1998 , Evans became more reclusive, preferring to stay out of the limelight, lending only his voice to the narration of the 2002 documentary film adaptation ofWoodland , which had once been owned by Greta Garbo, and which plays an outsize role in his memoirs as both a lure for the ladies, a place to make deals, and something of his own American dream made real—even though his famed projection room, where he played the dailies from soon-to-be-classic films for luminaries and friends like Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Cher, and Susan Sarandon, burned down in 2003. “I’m still alive. A little battered. But I like myself.
He was, above all, a man of action, of pursuit, a uniquely American character who envisioned what he wanted and went after it with all he had. Or, as he wrote in his memoir, “Getting into action generates inspiration. Don’t cop out waiting for inspiration to get you back into action. It won’t! Before I take a hike, I leave you with this thought: It’s not a compliment when someone tells you you’re a survivor. It’s bullshit. We’re all survivors till we die.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Robert Evans, ‘Chinatown’ Producer and Paramount Chief, Dies at 89Robert Evans, the Paramount executive who produced “Chinatown” and “Urban Cowboy” and whose life became as melodramatic and jaw-dropping as any of his films, died on Saturday night. He was 89. Even…
Read more »
Robert Evans, 'Chinatown' producer and former Paramount chief, dies at 89Even though Hollywood history is filled with colorful characters, few can match the tale of Evans, whose life would seem far-fetched if it were fiction.
Read more »
Hollywood Remembers Robert Evans: ‘One of the Best Story Tellers This Business Ever Had’Robert Evans, Paramount executive and producer of “Chinatown” and “Urban Cowboy,” died on Saturday at 89. Hollywood executives, actors and producers shared their reactions to his death. Golden Glob…
Read more »
Hollywood Remembers Producer Robert Evans: Brett Morgen, Dana Brunetti Recall Driving ForceRefresh for updates The late Robert Evans, one of Hollywood’s most important producers and studio executives of the last half century, who shepherded to the screen such cinematic treasures of…
Read more »
Robert Evans, Producer Who Brought Paramount Back From the Brink, Dies at 89The charismatic former actor rescued the studio in the 1960s by greenlighting such game-changing films as 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'The Godfather' and 'Chinatown.'
Read more »