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Obituaries

Frank Rosenfelt | MGM chair and CEO, 85

Frank Rosenfelt, 85, who as chairman and CEO of MGM Studios helped green-light such movies as Network and Doctor Zhivago , died last Thursday at his Los Angeles home, his granddaughter Stacey Lubliner said.

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Frank Rosenfelt, 85, who as chairman and CEO of MGM Studios helped green-light such movies as

Network

and

Doctor Zhivago

, died last Thursday at his Los Angeles home, his granddaughter Stacey Lubliner said.

Mr. Rosenfelt, a lawyer, joined MGM in 1955 after spending five years in the legal department of RKO. He became MGM's general counsel in 1969 and was named studio chief after mogul Kirk Kerkorian bought MGM in 1972. He led negotiations when MGM acquired United Artists in 1981.

MGM turned out several major movies during Mr. Rosenfelt's time there, including Stanley Kubrick's 1968 epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and 1975's The Sunshine Boys. He was credited with securing the movie rights for 1965's Doctor Zhivago.

One of his biggest disappointments was when Network, which inspired the classic line "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore," lost the Academy Award for best picture to Rocky. He reportedly was so angry that he banned the mention of the winning movie's name from his home.

Mr. Rosenfelt left the CEO post in 1982 and for nearly a decade was a vice chairman of MGM's board, based in London. After leaving the studio, he opened an independent consulting business.

- AP

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