Robert Evans (film producer)

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Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera June 29, 1930 in New York, New York) is a film producer best known for his work on Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather and Chinatown.

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[edit] Biography

Robert Evans grew up on New York City's Upper West Side during the 1930s, where he was better off than most people living during the Great Depression. His father was a dentist in Harlem, and his mother was a housewife who came from a wealthy family. In his early years, he did promotional work for Evan-Picone, a clothing company founded by his brother, in addition to doing voice work on radio shows.

He was spotted by actress Norma Shearer at The Beverly Hills Hotel in the mid-1950s; she successfully touted him for the role of Irving Thalberg in Man of a Thousand Faces. The same year, Evans also caught the eye of Darryl F. Zanuck, who cast him as a bullfighter in a film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

Evans' career as an actor was short-lived. Rather than continue working in front of the camera, he focused his talents behind the scenes. Evans was determined to become a successful producer. He got his start as a producer by purchasing the rights to a novel entitled The Detective. Peter Bart, a writer for the New York Times, wrote an article about Evans’ aggressive production style. This got Evans noticed by Charles Bluhdorn, who was head of the Gulf+Western conglomerate, and hired Evans as part of a shakeup at Paramount Pictures.

When Evans took over as Head of Production for Paramount, the floundering studio was the ninth largest. Even with Evans’ inexperience he was able to turn the studio around. He made Paramount the most successful studio in Hollywood and transformed it into a very profitable enterprise for Gulf+Western. During his tenure at Paramount the studio turned out landmark films such as: Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Italian Job, True Grit, Love Story, Harold and Maude, Serpico, The Conversation, Save the Tiger, The Great Gatsby, Rosemary's Baby, The Godfather and many others.

Unsatisfied with his financial compensation and with a desire to produce films under his own banner, Evans struck a deal with Paramount that enabled him to stay on as studio head and work as an independent producer. Other producers at Paramount felt this gave Evans an unfair advantage. Eventually Evans stepped down; this enabled him to produce films on his own. He went on to produce such films as: Chinatown, Marathon Man, Black Sunday, Popeye, Urban Cowboy, The Cotton Club, The Two Jakes, Sliver, Jade, The Phantom, The Saint, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Evans began to fall on hard times in the early 1980s, when during the production of Popeye, he was convicted for attempting to buy cocaine. Things got even worse for him when he began filming The Cotton Club. Evans was slated to direct, but due to production complications Francis Ford Coppola was called in. During the filming; the budget soared and Coppola and Evans fought endlessly. Evans hit a real low when he was implicated in the murder of Roy Radin. Radin, an investor in The Cotton Club, was murdered by Bill Mentzer and Alex Marti, the two convicts accused Evans of involvement. Evans pled the Fifth Amendment and was sent home. Evans wrote in his 1994 autobiography The Kid Stays in the Picture that he was a "tangential character, at best" in regard to the case.

Evans is considered a noted playboy and raconteur, is a close friend of Jack Nicholson, and a regular visitor to Turnberry Island. He has been married seven times, to Sharon Hugueny, Camilla Sparv, Ali MacGraw, Phyllis George, Catherine Oxenberg, Leslie Ann Woodward, and most recently to Victoria White O'Gara in Mexico on August 2005, shortly after his 75th birthday. She filed for divorce on June 16, 2006, citing irreconcilable differences. He has one son from his marriage to MacGraw.

Evans continues to produce, the last film that he produced was released in 2003. He also produced and provided the voice for his eponymous character in the animated series Kid Notorious. Evans currently hosts the Sirius Satellite Radio show In Bed with Robert Evans.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Producer

[edit] Actor

[edit] Autobiography

[edit] External links

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