Robert Evans | |
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![]() Evans in 2012 | |
Born | Robert J. Shapera June 29, 1930 New York City, U.S. |
Died | October 26, 2019 | (aged 89)
Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery |
Occupation(s) | Film producer, studio executive, actor |
Years active | 1952–2016 |
Notable work | Rosemary's Baby Love Story The Godfather Chinatown |
Spouses | Leslie Ann Woodward
(m. 2002; div. 2004)Victoria, Lady White
(m. 2005; div. 2006) |
Children | Josh Evans |
Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930 – October 26, 2019) was an American film producer who worked on Rosemary's Baby (1968), Love Story (1970), The Godfather (1972), and Chinatown (1974).
Evans began his career in a successful business venture with his brother, selling women's apparel. In 1956, while on a business trip, he was by chance spotted by actress Norma Shearer, who thought he would be right to play the role of her late husband Irving Thalberg in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). Thus he began a brief film acting career. In 1962, Evans went into film producing instead, using his accumulated wealth from the clothing business, and began a meteoric rise in the industry. He was made head of Paramount Pictures in 1967. While there, he improved the ailing Paramount's fortunes through a string of commercially and critically acclaimed films. In 1974, he stepped down to produce films on his own. In 1980, Evans's career, and life, took a downturn after he pled guilty to cocaine trafficking. Over the next 12 years, he produced only two films, both financial flops: The Cotton Club (1984) and the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes (1990).[1] In 1993, he produced films on a more regular basis, with a mixed track record that included both flops (such as Jade in 1995) and hits (such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003, his final film credit).