by Natalie Finn, 26 Apr 2007
There's a reason why kids under the age of 17 can't see a rated-R movie and why Hollywood almost did away with award screeners a few years ago. Jack Valenti is that reason.The film industry lobbyist and creator of the modern-day movie rating system died Thursday at his Washington D.C. home due to complications of a stroke he suffered last month. He was 85.
Valenti, who cut his teeth in politics serving on President Lyndon Johnson's staff in the 1960s, assumed the role of president of the Motion Picture Association of America in 1966 and didn't relinquish the position until 2004, when the seemingly tireless champion of copyright protection finally retired.
"Jack was a showman, a gentleman, an orator and a passionate champion of this country, its movies, and the enduring freedoms that made both so important to this world," MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman, who took over when Valenti left, said in a statement. "He also embodied the theatricality of our industry with his conviction, quick wit and boundless energy. In a very real sense, he was the ultimate leading man."
Shortly after joining the MPAA, Valenti did major studios a good turn by doing away with the Hays Code—the 1930s-era set of rules that let studios know what was "morally acceptable" and affected how filmmakers approached onscreen sex and violence for years—and installed a set ratings guide, otherwise known as G, M (which later became PG), R and X.
But while Valenti was an ardent supporter of artistic freedoms, he wanted to keep a tight rein on what was done with those films after they were made, in all their Hays-free glory.
A fierce and outspoken foe of intellectual-property theft, Valenti was an early critic of VCRs, a device that he warned would bring about the end of the film industry, with its seeming capacity for rampant copying.
"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone," he told Congress in 1982.
And although he was wrong about video cassette recorders, which actually helped to revive the industry by allowing movie lovers to take in a film at home, Valenti was no less vigilant in later years when it came to anything he perceived as a threat to creative property rights.
The Hollywood and Washington insider helped get the Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law in 1998, seeing it as a necessary piece of legislation to curb the encroaching threat of Internet piracy.
Several years later, Valenti was the driving force behind the MPAA's attempt to bar studios and production companies from passing out DVD screeners, an award season staple and a key way for filmmakers to ensure that industry bigwigs (aka Academy voters) will get a chance to view their movies.
A court injunction overturned the ban in 2004, a major blow against Valenti's largely unshakeable authority during his four-decade tenure.
But while his later years with the MPAA were pocked with controversy, Valenti's legacy is intact.
A former Army pilot who flew more than 50 combat missions during World War II, Valenti was known as a charismatic and personable leader who felt just as comfortable around Hollywood luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Douglas as he did around D.C. politicos.
The Houston native authored five books about politics and the movie biz, including the recently completed memoir This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood, which is due out in June, and maintained an active public speaking schedule. He had been scheduled to kick off a six-city book tour on June 5.
Valenti is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary, daughters Courtenay Lynda and Alexandra Alice, son John Lyndon, and two grandchildren.
Source : Film Industry Champion Valenti Dies article on Eonline.com
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