Producer Jerry Weintraub dies at 77
Jerry Weintraub, the producer behind the remake of Ocean's 11, The Karate Kid, and several other well-known films, died Monday in Palm Springs. He was 77.
Weintraub started off in the music business, serving as a tour promoter and manager for John Denver, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, and Led Zeppelin. In the 1970s, he transitioned to the movies, working with Robert Altman on Nashville. After a brief stint as head of United Artists, Weintraub founded the Weintraub Entertainment Group, which went bankrupt after three years.
More recently, he produced HBO's biodrama Behind the Candelabra; the documentary 41 on his friend, President George H.W. Bush; and the HBO series The Brink, which premiered in June. A Tarzan feature, starring Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson, is set for release in 2016. "I'm an entrepreneur, I've been an independent guy all my life," he told Variety in 2007. "I love doing what I do. I love the movies, I love actors, I love directors, I love writers, I love working with the studio, I love the marketing. I love the whole process." Weintraub is survived by his longtime girlfriend Susan Eakins, and children Michael, Julie, Jamie, and Jody.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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