Ronni Chasen, 1946–2010

Beverly Hills police are still searching for a murderer and a motive in the shooting death of Ronni Chasen, a publicity agent who helped generate Oscar buzz for films including Thelma & Louise and The Hurt Locker. Chasen was shot several times last week as she drove her Mercedes home from a Beverly Hills party celebrating the premiere of Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera.

“Was it an attempted carjacking? Or something more sinister?” asked the Associated Press. It’s hard to believe Chasen might have had a secret life, friends say. “A woman who had spent her career rushing from red carpet to red carpet” seemingly had little time for secrets.

Until her baffling death last week, Chasen was best known as one of “the last of a breed of old-school Hollywood press agents who politely but persistently refused to take ‘no’ for an answer,” said Daily Variety. Born in New York City, she got her start acting in soap operas, then did publicity for New York theaters before moving to Hollywood to manage publicity for American International Pictures. After a lengthy stint running the movie division of a PR firm, she went into business for herself. “Known for sporting a poufy blonde blowout and for her distinctive fast-talking, New York–accented style,” Chasen was a relentless advocate for her clients, including some of Hollywood’s best-known composers, such as Danny Elfman, Ennio Morricone, and Diane Warren.

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Chasen also directed the Academy Awards campaigns for many films, including Driving Miss Daisy and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, said the Los Angeles Times. Gifted with “pure, unadulterated salesmanship,” she appeared to wield “some sort of hypnotic power” over Hollywood journalists. Her “old-fashioned star” power also worked on directors and actors, “who were clients for decades because they became her friends.” Her fellow Hollywood publicists, normally a rivalrous lot, have contributed more than $25,000 to fund a reward for information leading to her killer’s arrest.