Alan Ladd Jr., the producer of the Best Picture Oscar-winning film Braveheart and the man who gave the go-ahead for the box office behemoth Star Wars, died Wednesday at the age of 84.
The announcement comes from Ladd’s family (via Deadline). Amanda Ladd-Jones, the legendary producer’s daughter, took to social media to share the sad news publicly.
“With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family,” Ladd-Jones wrote via a post on a Facebook page dedicated to a documentary film she directed about her father, 2017’s Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies. “Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.”
David Ladd, the producer’s brother, also expressed his mourning via a Facebook post, writing, “My brother, my friend, my hero, who always stood by my side. We will stand together again on the other side! I love you Laddie.”
Born in Los Angeles on Oct. 22, 1937, Ladd helmed a gargantuan career in the industry that included his films garnering more than 50 Academy Awards in total, including two Best Picture winners, Braveheart and Chariots of Fire. His films also garnered a staggering number of Oscar nominations — more than 150 in total.
The son of Golden Globe-winning actor Alan Ladd, Ladd got his start as a motion picture talent agent before moving on to producing films for 20th Century Fox in the early 70s.
Ushering in films such as Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Alien, Young Frankenstein, and Rocky Horror Picture Show for the studio, 20th Century Fox’s profits took a meteoric rise of over 1,600% during his tenure.
After Ladd left to form his own studio in 1979, The Ladd Company, his career continued to take off, including snagging a Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival for Akira Kurosawa’s 1980 war epic Kagemusha. He produced other award-winning and influential films, such as Once Upon a Time in America, Blade Runner, and the commercially successful Police Academy movies.
In the mid-1980s, Ladd became the head of MGM/United Artists, shepherding such hits as Rocky IV, Thelma and Louise, and Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs.
He later resurrected The Ladd Company under Paramount Pictures in 1993, then with Miramax in 1999. The last movie he produced was 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, the acclaimed thriller starring Casey Affleck and directed by his brother, Ben Affleck.