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Nov 2, 2008


John Daly, the British-born producer of 13 Oscar-winning movies including “Platoon” and “The Last Emperor” who helped launch the careers of many top directors and actors, has died.

He was 71.



Daly, who was chairman of Film and Music Entertainment, died Friday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after struggling with cancer, said his daughter, Jenny Daly.

Over a career that spanned four decades, Daly helped to produce films that earned 13 Oscars for best picture and 21 Oscar nominations, as well as numerous Golden Globes and other awards.

Daly’s companies boosted the careers of directors such as Oliver Stone (“Platoon,” “Salvador”), Bernardo Bertolucci (“The Last Emperor”) and Robert Altman (“Images”), as well as actors Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves and Julia Roberts.

“John was truly a giant in the industry who changed filmmaking for the better,” Lawrence Lotman, chief financial officer and acting chief executive officer of Film and Music Entertainment, said in a statement.

Born in London, Daly joined with British actor David Hemmings in 1967 to form Hemdale, a company that managed rock bands such as Yes and Black Sabbath.

Hemdale later became a leading independent film producer and distributor in the U.K. with movies such as “Tommy,” according to a biography issued by Film and Music Entertainment.

Under Daly’s stewardship, Hemdale produced more than 100 films that grossed more than $1.5 billion.

Since 2003, Daly had been at the helm of Film and Music Entertainment. In 2004, he produced, co-wrote and directed “The Aryan Couple,” starring Martin Landau, which received awards at film festivals around the world.

He is survived by three sons and a daughter.


R.I.P. John Daly.