Richard Kahn, veteran marketing executive and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died Saturday at age 95, the Academy announced Wednesday.
“Our Dad had a kind and generous soul, a wry sense of humor and was a wonderful father. We will miss him dearly,” his daughters, Sharon Kahn and Lisa Kahn Feldstern, said in a statement provided by The Academy.
“All of us at the Academy are deeply saddened to learn of Richard’s passing,” CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said jointly. “Richard was a devoted member of the Academy and the film community at large. During his time on the board, both as our president and as a governor for many years, he played a vital role in establishing traditions that remain today. His vision and leadership leave an indelible mark. He remained a friend to so many, and our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Navy officer during the Korean War, Kahn spent two decades as a marketing executive at Columbia Pictures, overseeing the ad campaigns for classics such as “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “The Guns of Navarone” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” While there, he became a member of the Academy’s marketing and public relations branch in 1964.
In 1975, Kahn moved to MGM, continuing his marketing work on films like “Network” and “Clash of the Titans.” He rose to become president of MGM International and later EVP of marketing for the combined MGM and United Artists after its 1981 acquisition.
At the Academy, he headed the Public Relations Coordinating Committee, which created the Academy’s first Nominees Luncheon in 1982.
After a tenure at the Film Academy that included 12 years as governor, five as vice president and one as secretary, Kahn was elected president of the Film Academy for one term from 1988-89.
In 1983, Kahn launched a film marketing consultancy with his wife, Marianne Kahn, and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program until 1989. He also led the Film Information Council as executive chairman (1985–1995) and served on the Board of the Will Rogers Memorial Fund (1987–2001). In 2000, he received the Hollywood Reporter’s Key Art Pioneer Award for his creative contributions to the entertainment industry.
He is survived by his two daughters, Sharon Kahn and Lisa Kahn Feldstern, his son-in-law, the Honorable Daniel Feldstern, and his grandson and his wife, Nick and Jenn Fasulo-Feldstern.
