New York Times
By MARGALIT FOX OCT. 11, 2004
Richard L. Berger, a film and television executive who created the Touchstone label for Walt Disney Pictures, died on Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. He was 64 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The cause was complications of lung cancer, the public relations firm Guttman Associates announced.
As president of Walt Disney Pictures from 1983 to 1984, Mr. Berger started Touchstone Films (now Touchstone Pictures) in 1984 as part of Disney's effort to distinguish its films for teenagers and young adults from its juvenile fare and thus appeal to a generation that scorned Snow White and Mickey Mouse. Touchstone released its first film, "Splash," starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, the same year. That movie took in $6.2 million in its first week, then the highest opening gross in Disney's history, The Associated Press reported.
Richard Laurence Berger was born on Oct. 25, 1939, in Hillsdale, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1973 he became vice president for programs at 20th Century Fox. In the late 70's, as an executive at CBS, Mr. Berger helped develop the television series "Dallas" and "Lou Grant." He became president of MGM in 1990.
Mr. Berger's first two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Lisa Hornburg, and by a daughter from an earlier marriage, Alexandra, of Los Angeles.
In a 1984 interview with The New York Times Mr. Berger encapsulated Disney's motivation for starting Touchstone. "Audiences don't know who made 'Star Wars' or 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,"' he explained. "They do know who made 'Tron' and 'The Apple Dumpling Gang.' If you put Disney's name on top of 'Emmanuelle,' and had 'X-rated' at the bottom, people would say, 'We can bring our children."'
By MARGALIT FOX OCT. 11, 2004
Richard L. Berger, a film and television executive who created the Touchstone label for Walt Disney Pictures, died on Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. He was 64 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The cause was complications of lung cancer, the public relations firm Guttman Associates announced.
As president of Walt Disney Pictures from 1983 to 1984, Mr. Berger started Touchstone Films (now Touchstone Pictures) in 1984 as part of Disney's effort to distinguish its films for teenagers and young adults from its juvenile fare and thus appeal to a generation that scorned Snow White and Mickey Mouse. Touchstone released its first film, "Splash," starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, the same year. That movie took in $6.2 million in its first week, then the highest opening gross in Disney's history, The Associated Press reported.
Richard Laurence Berger was born on Oct. 25, 1939, in Hillsdale, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1973 he became vice president for programs at 20th Century Fox. In the late 70's, as an executive at CBS, Mr. Berger helped develop the television series "Dallas" and "Lou Grant." He became president of MGM in 1990.
Mr. Berger's first two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Lisa Hornburg, and by a daughter from an earlier marriage, Alexandra, of Los Angeles.
In a 1984 interview with The New York Times Mr. Berger encapsulated Disney's motivation for starting Touchstone. "Audiences don't know who made 'Star Wars' or 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,"' he explained. "They do know who made 'Tron' and 'The Apple Dumpling Gang.' If you put Disney's name on top of 'Emmanuelle,' and had 'X-rated' at the bottom, people would say, 'We can bring our children."'
New York Times
By MARGALIT FOX OCT. 11, 2004
Richard L. Berger, a film and television executive who created the Touchstone label for Walt Disney Pictures, died on Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. He was 64 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The cause was complications of lung cancer, the public relations firm Guttman Associates announced.
As president of Walt Disney Pictures from 1983 to 1984, Mr. Berger started Touchstone Films (now Touchstone Pictures) in 1984 as part of Disney's effort to distinguish its films for teenagers and young adults from its juvenile fare and thus appeal to a generation that scorned Snow White and Mickey Mouse. Touchstone released its first film, "Splash," starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, the same year. That movie took in $6.2 million in its first week, then the highest opening gross in Disney's history, The Associated Press reported.
Richard Laurence Berger was born on Oct. 25, 1939, in Hillsdale, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1973 he became vice president for programs at 20th Century Fox. In the late 70's, as an executive at CBS, Mr. Berger helped develop the television series "Dallas" and "Lou Grant." He became president of MGM in 1990.
Mr. Berger's first two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Lisa Hornburg, and by a daughter from an earlier marriage, Alexandra, of Los Angeles.
In a 1984 interview with The New York Times Mr. Berger encapsulated Disney's motivation for starting Touchstone. "Audiences don't know who made 'Star Wars' or 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,"' he explained. "They do know who made 'Tron' and 'The Apple Dumpling Gang.' If you put Disney's name on top of 'Emmanuelle,' and had 'X-rated' at the bottom, people would say, 'We can bring our children."'
By MARGALIT FOX OCT. 11, 2004
Richard L. Berger, a film and television executive who created the Touchstone label for Walt Disney Pictures, died on Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. He was 64 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The cause was complications of lung cancer, the public relations firm Guttman Associates announced.
As president of Walt Disney Pictures from 1983 to 1984, Mr. Berger started Touchstone Films (now Touchstone Pictures) in 1984 as part of Disney's effort to distinguish its films for teenagers and young adults from its juvenile fare and thus appeal to a generation that scorned Snow White and Mickey Mouse. Touchstone released its first film, "Splash," starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, the same year. That movie took in $6.2 million in its first week, then the highest opening gross in Disney's history, The Associated Press reported.
Richard Laurence Berger was born on Oct. 25, 1939, in Hillsdale, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1973 he became vice president for programs at 20th Century Fox. In the late 70's, as an executive at CBS, Mr. Berger helped develop the television series "Dallas" and "Lou Grant." He became president of MGM in 1990.
Mr. Berger's first two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Lisa Hornburg, and by a daughter from an earlier marriage, Alexandra, of Los Angeles.
In a 1984 interview with The New York Times Mr. Berger encapsulated Disney's motivation for starting Touchstone. "Audiences don't know who made 'Star Wars' or 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,"' he explained. "They do know who made 'Tron' and 'The Apple Dumpling Gang.' If you put Disney's name on top of 'Emmanuelle,' and had 'X-rated' at the bottom, people would say, 'We can bring our children."'
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
