Frank Yablans

Frank Yablans (August 27, 1935 – November 27, 2014) was an American studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. 2Early life Yablans was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York to Annette and Morris Yablans. His father was a Brooklyn cab driver. His older brother is film producer Irwin Yablans of Halloween (1978) fame. Yablans' first employers in the film business included Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company and Filmways. 2Career He became Executive Vice President of Sales for Paramount Pictures in the late 1960s. In that position, his expert marketing of the film Love Story (1970) led to his appointment as Paramount Studios' President in 1971. As head of Paramount, he oversaw the release of such classic movies as The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and Chinatown (1974).Following the end of his presidency at Paramount in 1975, he became an independent producer, working primarily through Paramount and 20th Century Fox. He was executive producer of such films as Silver Streak (1976), The Other Side of Midnight (1977), Congo (1995), and the popular HBO series "Rome." He also wrote and produced "North Dallas Forty" (1979) and Mommie Dearest (1981), the latter winning the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay. Yablans was then recruited by Kirk Kerkorian to head his troubled and debt-laden film company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM