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The Godfather producer Robert Evans dies aged 89


Robert, with Eva Mendes, died on Saturday (Picture: WireImage)

Legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans has died aged 89.

The filmmaker, who has been behind iconic films such as The Godfather, Chinatown and Urban Cowboy, died on Saturday, as confirmed by his publicist to Metro.co.uk.

Evans became one of the most successful producers in filmmaking and also worked on movies such as Rosemary’s Baby, Romeo and Juliet, as well as Goodbye Columbus.

He is said to have passed away at his home in Los Angeles, however his family is yet to release an official statement.

Regarded as breathing life into Hollywood following the Golden Era, Evans became head of Paramount Pictures in 1967, ushering in filmmakers who became iconic in tinseltown, including Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, John Schlesinger, and John Frankenheimer.

He was legendary in tinseltown (Picture: WireImage)

The producer started out as an actor, starring in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises as a bullfighter.

His last hit was producing iconic rom-com How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, which starred Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey in 2003.

He later wrote his memoir, The Kid Stays in the Picture, which later became a documentary film, while he was nominated for an Oscar in 1975 for Chinatown.

In 1998 Evans – who was married and divorced seven times – suffered a stroke that left him partially paralysed. He suffered three strokes that same year, but managed to recover.

He released a memoir (Picture: FilmMagic)
Robert Evans and Ali MacGraw (Picture: Getty Images)

He was first married to Sharon Hugueny from 1961-62, before marrying Camilla Sparv in 1964. In 1967 they separated and he married actress Ali MacGraw in 1969. They were together until 1973 and share one son, Josh Evans, who is also a producer.

In 1977 he married Phyllis George however they split in 1978. He didn’t marry again until 1998 when he wed Catherine Oxenberg, which was annulled after nine days. He was then married to Leslie Ann Woodward from 2002-2004 and then Victoria White in 2005-2006.

In the film adaption of his memoir, only his marriage to MacGraw is discussed.

In 1980, at the age of 50, the producer was arrested for cocaine possession however the misdemeanour was later stripped from his record.

Evans’s glitzy and stylishly chic life as a hotshot producer was often caricatured and he even parodied himself in the film Burn, Hollywood, Burn in 1998. A year before Dustin Hoffman used Evans as inspiration for his character in satire Wag The Dog.

The Hollywood icon hasn’t tweeted since July, however his final message on the social media platform may go down in history.

He wrote: ‘I bet your a*s I’ve done more in the last month than you in your entire life.’



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