Richard Kahn, veteran marketer and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died last Saturday at the age of 95, Academy announced Wednesday.
“Our father had a kind and generous soul, a scary humor and was a wonderful father. We will miss him dearly,” said his daughters, Sharon Kahn and Lisa Kahn Feldster.
“We all at the academy are deeply saddened to learn about Richard’s passing,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang. “Richard was a dedicated member of the academy and the film community in general. During his time on the board, both as our president and as governor for many years, he played an important role in establishing traditions that remain today. His vision and leadership leaves an indelible brand. He remained a friend of so many, and our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Kahn was a degree at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and a navy officer during the Korea war spent two decades as a marketer at Columbia Pictures and monitored ad campaigns for classics such as “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, “The Guns of Navarone,” While he was there he became a member of the Academy’s marketing and public relations branch in 1964.
In 1975, Kahn moved to MGM and continued his marketing work on films such as “Network” and “Clash of the Titans.” He rose to become president of MGM International and later EVP for marketing for the combined MGM and United artists after the 1981 acquisition.
At the Academy, he led Public Relations Coordinating Committee, which created the academy’s first nominated lunch in 1982.
After a term of office at the Film Academy, which included 12 years as governor, five as vice president and one as secretary, Kahn was elected president of the Film Academy for a period 1988-89.
In 1983, Kahn launched a film marketing consultant with his wife, Marianne Kahn, and served as an adjunct professor at the University of South California’s Peter Strong Production Program until 1989. 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 Feldster, his son-in-law, the honorable Daniel Feldstern and his grandson and his wife Nick and Jenn Fasulo-Feldster.
