Ernst Goldschmidt, the sales agent who co-founded Orion Pictures and oversaw distribution of some of the previous century’s biggest movies, has died aged 92.
The respected exec passed away last month from heart failure in his hometown of Badenweller in Germany, his family said. Starting his career in 1957 as a salesman with MGM in Zurich, Goldschmidt joined United Artists (UA) in 1958 as General Manager of their Swiss office, before taking the reins at UA/Germany.
He was promoted to European Sales Manager in Paris in 1968 and then named President of UA Europe two years later, a post he held for five years.
UA relocated him to New York in 1975 as Vice President International Sales at the time when it was distributing films from the likes of Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone, Saul Zaentz, Milos Forman and Brian de Palma.
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