NEW YORK -- Robert Evans, the protean, fast-living Hollywood producer and former Paramount Pictures production chief who backed such seminal 1970s films as "Chinatown," "The Godfather" and "Harold and Maude," has died. He was 89.
Evans publicist, Monique Moss, confirmed that Evans died on Saturday. No other details Monday were immediately available.
His career was a story of comebacks and reinventions. Evans had launched a successful women's clothing line with his brother, Charles, and was visiting Los Angeles on business when actress Norma Shearer saw him sunbathing by the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She persuaded producers to hire the handsome, dark-haired 26-year-old to play her late husband, movie mogul Irving Thalberg, in "Man of a Thousand Faces," a film about horror movie star Lon Chaney.
After acting roles faded, Evans re-emerged at Paramount and quickly converted the studio from a maker of mediocre films to the biggest hit machine in Hollywood, home to "The Godfather" and "Love Story" among others.
Entertainment on 10/29/2019