Sherry Lansing on AllMovie

Fans of Howard Hawks' Rio Lobo (1969) may be intrigued to discover that the beautiful secondary heroine who is facially disfigured by the villains is the same person who later produced Fatal Attraction (1987), The Accused (1988) and Indecent Proposal (1993). Chicago-born film executive Sherry Lansing did indeed pursue an acting career after graduating from Northwestern University. Sensing that her film roles might be limited to Rio Lobo-type supporting parts, Ms. Lansing applied her intelligence and drive to the production end. She joined Talent Associates in 1974, where she was an executive in charge of development; three years later, she was appointed vice president in charge of production at Columbia. Hit films like the Oscar-winning Kramer vs. Kramer catapulted Ms. Lansing into the presidency of 20th Century-Fox -- the first woman ever to hold such a position. While undaunted by the heavy administrative responsibilities, Lansing preferred to be a hands-on moviemaker, thus in 1984 she teamed with one-time Paramount Pictures president Stanley R. Jaffe to form the successful independent production company, Jaffe-Lansing. When Jaffe was appointed president of Paramount Communications in 1990, Sherry Lansing became that organization's chairperson.