Judy Solomon, the former six-term president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, died Friday morning. She was 91 years old.
The Golden Globe Awards, of which the HFPA serves as parent company, announced the news Saturday. They credited Solomon with overseeing the Globes’ growth and for innovating many of the awards ceremony’s best-known features.
“We are incredibly saddened by the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Judy Solomon. The loss is profound, but we take this opportunity to celebrate her incredible achievements in helping evolve the Golden Globes into the world-spanning award it is today,” current HFPA president Helen Hoehne said in a statement. “We are grateful for her support and leadership during her 67 years of membership with the HFPA.”
Hoehne continued: “Not only did Judy love the HFPA, but she also loved Hollywood. She loved the people she met, the executives she collaborated with and the rich tapestry of films and television that audiences around the world enjoyed.”
Born in Romania and raised in Israel, Solomon began her career in journalism after moving to the U.S. and starting a family, most prominently for a swath of Israeli publications as an entertainment feature writer.
She joined the HFPA in 1956. In addition supporting the work of foreign journalists in the U.S., her tenure with the organization saw her using proceeds from the Globes to expand the HFPA’s philanthropic efforts in the arts, education, film restoration and journalism.
One change to the Globes ceremony she’s credited for today is the introduction of Dick Clark to the awards, thereby leading to the organization’s longtime partnership with Dick Clark Productions. She’s also said to be instrumental in ceremony’s move from the Cocoanut Grove Club at the Ambassador Hotel to the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Solomon is survived by her daughters Donna Sloan and Deborah Solomon, her son-in-law Stephen Sloan and her granddaughter Ashley Sloan.
