Jack Valenti, Hollywood's top lobbyist, departures · 2007-04-29 11:20
Jack Valenti died Thursday at the age of 85. He was not just Hollywood's top lobbyist. He was one of its biggest stars.
The former White House aide went from politics to show business, overseeing the Motion Picture Association of America with eloquence, bullheadedness and flair.
According to ABC News, Valenti was a passionate envoy, deflecting criticism of Hollywood with wit and humility, fostering its interests overseas and fiercely combating threats to the industry such as film piracy.
"In a very real sense, he was the ultimate leading man," said Dan Glickman, Valenti's successor as head of the MPAA.
A former aide to Lyndon Johnson who was in the motorcade the day President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Valenti went from Beltway insider to Hollywood baron when he took over the MPAA in 1966.
His impact on American culture was almost immediate. Recognizing that the industry had outgrown the morality code regulating movie content since the 1930s, Valenti replaced it with a ratings system that survives today with its G, PG, PG-13 and R designations.
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