Wayne Lewellen | Studio executive, 65

Wayne Lewellen, 65, the former longtime head of distribution for Paramount Pictures, died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles after a short battle with cancer, said Todd Vradenburg, Mr. Lewellen's friend and a member of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneer Foundation.

Mr. Lewellen began his career in his native Texas with Warner Bros. in 1965, his publicist said. He joined Paramount in 1973, becoming distribution president for Paramount's Motion Picture Group in the mid-1990s.

During his tenure, he was responsible for distribution of some of Hollywood's most successful productions, including Titanic, Forrest Gump, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, and Star Trek.

He left the studio in 2005.

- AP