Julie Kirkham, Producer of ‘Black Rain’ and ‘Anna and the King,’ Dead at 61

She also worked as an executive and script consultant for Steve Zaillian, Ron Shelton and others

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Julie Kirkham, a studio executive and script consultant who produced such films as “Black Rain” and “Anna and the King,” died June 10. She was 61.

She was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

Kirkham, a graduate of Princeton University, broke into the industry as a script reader in the 1980s. She served as VP of production at Orion Pictures and then as SVP at Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender‘s production company, A Band Apart, and later at Lawrence Bender Productions.

She executive produced Ridley Scott‘s 1989 thriller “Black Rain” and co-produced 1999’s “Anna and the King” and 2004’s “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”

Kirkham was known for nurturing screenwriters such as Craig Bolotin (“Black Rain”), Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”), Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”) and Jordan Roberts (“Big Hero 6”).

She and her husband, producer Elliott Lewitt, together ran their own production company, Kirkham/Lewitt Productions.

She also taught screenwriting at Chapman University and the University of Carolina’s School of the Arts.

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