William Bernstein, the longtime studio executive who exited United Artists with four others to launch Orion Pictures in 1978, then spent a decade at Paramount Pictures, died Thursday at his Bel Air home of Parkinson's disease, a family spokesman said.
He was 87. Along with Mike Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow, Bernstein departed UA, which had been sold to Transamerica in 1967, to form Orion, the first new major player in Hollywood since the 1930s.
It was Bernstein who came up with the name of the studio; he once told The New York Times, "Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us." The execs signed a deal with Warner Communications that gave them full control of the marketing and advertising.
Read more on hollywoodreporter.com