UPI – by Karen ButlerLOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (UPI) — Second-generation Hollywood film producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. has died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said. He was 88.
The Samuel Goldwyn Films founder is credited with putting Julia Roberts on the map with 1988’s Mystic Pizza. He also was an early supporter of celebrated arthouse directors Ang Lee, Anthony Minghella and Kenneth Branagh.
“Most people don’t quite realize what an independent film pioneer he was,” Thomas E. Rothman, chairman of TriStar and founder of Fox Searchlight, told The New York Times. “Sam was the inspiration for Fox Searchlight.”
Goldwyn’s credits include Longtime Companion, The Proud Rebel, Cotton Comes to Harlem, The Preacher’s Wife, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
The son of the late studio boss Samuel Goldwyn and actress Frances Howard also handed down his passion for cinema to his children. His son John was vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, and son Tony is the star of ABC’s Scandal.
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. is survived as well by his third wife, Patricia Strawn; two other sons, Francis and Peter; two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth; and 10 grandchildren.
Producer Gale Anne Hurd, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and movie critic Lou Lumenick were among those who paid tribute to Goldwyn on Twitter Saturday.
“My deepest condolences to his family,” Hurd said.
“Hollywood lost a hero today, #RIPSamuelGoldwynJr, he championed my 1st film, let us all champion his indie spirit,” Spurlock tweeted.
“RIP Samuel Goldwyn Jr., last surviving son of Hollywood’s founding fathers and a very notable industry figure in his own right,” Lumenick posted.