John Calley, who has died aged 81, pursued an unconventional 50-year career in Hollywood, running three major studios and presiding over hit films as diverse as Dirty Harry (1971) and The Remains of the Day (1993); in an industry noted for its short attention span he managed to take an entire decade off to "find himself", before storming back to even greater success.
When he returned to the business in 1989, Calley was written off by many as a has-been. But soon he was a studio chief, first at MGM/United Artists and then at Sony Pictures Entertainment, becoming president and chief operating officer during the studio's production of Men in Black (1997) and Spider-Man (2002).
John Calley
His break at United had come in 1993, when the studio was short of money and needed to improve its credibility. Calley helped to revive its fortunes with hits such as Goldeneye (1995), the highest-grossing film in the history of the James Bond franchise, and the comedy The Birdcage (1996), a contemporary American version of La Cage Aux Folles.
The move to Sony three years later completed the transformation of the former has-been into one of the most influential men in the business. Calley produced or executive produced Closer (2004), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) and Angels and Demons (2009).
John Calley was born on July 8 1930 in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents split up when he was young, and he took odd jobs as a cleaner and worked in an ink factory. After service in the US Army, he began his career in entertainment when he was 21, working in the NBC post-room in New York.
In 1969 he moved to Warner Bros, an exciting time for cinema as a new generation of younger filmmakers made their mark following the runaway success of Easy Rider (1969).
"Kids were kings. After Easy Rider, everything was exploding everywhere," Calley recalled. "We were all young, it was our time, and it was very exciting. What had been this rigid, immobile structure had completely come apart, and what was left was a lot of freedom."
At Warners, Calley was successively head of production, president and vice chairman. During his years with the studio, his hits included Deliverance (1972); The Towering Inferno and Blazing Saddles (both 1974); and A Star Is Born (1976).
Calley worked closely with many top directors, from Stanley Kubrick to Clint Eastwood and Sydney Pollack to Federico Fellini, among others. But in 1980 he took a break from the film industry, left Hollywood, moved to a house that he owned on Long Island Sound and for several years remained in self-imposed exile, sailing and travelling widely.
In 1989 he returned to become an independent film producer in partnership with Mike Nichols, producing the critically-acclaimed Postcards From the Edge (1990) and The Remains of the Day, for which he received his one Oscar nomination (he was beaten by Schindler's List). Then he moved to United.
Where film moguls were traditionally loud and vain, Calley cut an ascetic, cultivated and well-mannered figure. Unusually for a studio boss, he was comfortable around actors and writers, claiming no artistic skills himself beyond an enormous appetite for books.
At the Academy Awards in 2009 he received the honorary Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award and was praised for his "intellectual rigour, sophisticated artistic sensibilities and calm, understated manner". He was renowned as one of the most trusted and admired figures in Hollywood.
Calley once defined a producer's role: "It's a guy lying in a bed in a rented apartment in Century City at four in the morning in a foetal position trying to decide whether or not to say yes to a $175 million budget for Spider-Man. It comes down to one guy who has to use his gut."
"What must be said is the money's good," he added. Calley reputedly owned the largest collection of Ferraris outside Italy.
John Calley, who was thrice married, died on September 13. A daughter and three stepchildren survive him.
At Warners, Calley was successively head of production, president and vice chairman. During his years with the studio, his hits included Deliverance (1972); The Towering Inferno and Blazing Saddles (both 1974); and A Star Is Born (1976).
Calley worked closely with many top directors, from Stanley Kubrick to Clint Eastwood and Sydney Pollack to Federico Fellini, among others. But in 1980 he took a break from the film industry, left Hollywood, moved to a house that he owned on Long Island Sound and for several years remained in self-imposed exile, sailing and travelling widely.
In 1989 he returned to become an independent film producer in partnership with Mike Nichols, producing the critically-acclaimed Postcards From the Edge (1990) and The Remains of the Day, for which he received his one Oscar nomination (he was beaten by Schindler's List). Then he moved to United.
Where film moguls were traditionally loud and vain, Calley cut an ascetic, cultivated and well-mannered figure. Unusually for a studio boss, he was comfortable around actors and writers, claiming no artistic skills himself beyond an enormous appetite for books.
At the Academy Awards in 2009 he received the honorary Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award and was praised for his "intellectual rigour, sophisticated artistic sensibilities and calm, understated manner". He was renowned as one of the most trusted and admired figures in Hollywood.
Calley once defined a producer's role: "It's a guy lying in a bed in a rented apartment in Century City at four in the morning in a foetal position trying to decide whether or not to say yes to a $175 million budget for Spider-Man. It comes down to one guy who has to use his gut."
"What must be said is the money's good," he added. Calley reputedly owned the largest collection of Ferraris outside Italy.
John Calley, who was thrice married, died on September 13. A daughter and three stepchildren survive him.
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