Search Results - Evans, Robert 1930-2019

Robert Evans

Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930 – October 26, 2019) was an American film producer who worked on ''Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chinatown'' (1974).

Evans began his career in a successful business venture with his brother Charles Evans, selling women's apparel. In 1956, while on a business trip, he was by chance spotted by actress Norma Shearer, who thought he would be right to play the role of her late husband Irving Thalberg in ''Man of a Thousand Faces'' (1957). Thus he began a brief film acting career. In 1962, Evans went into film producing instead, using his accumulated wealth from the clothing business, and began a meteoric rise in the industry. He was made head of Paramount Pictures in 1967. While there, he improved the ailing Paramount's fortunes through a string of commercially and critically acclaimed films. In 1974, he stepped down to produce films on his own. In 1980, Evans's career, and life, took a downturn after he pled guilty to cocaine trafficking. Over the next 12 years, he produced only two films, both financial flops: ''The Cotton Club'' (1984) and the ''Chinatown'' sequel ''The Two Jakes'' (1990). In 1993, he produced films on a more regular basis, with a mixed track record that included both flops (such as ''Jade'' in 1995) and hits (such as ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' in 2003, his final film credit). Provided by Wikipedia