Laura Ziskin, 61, who battled breast cancer for seven years and continued to produce major Hollywood projects throughout her illness, has passed away at her home.
Ziskin was best known for producing the Spider-Man franchise and bringing in $1.5 billion worldwide for the Spidey series, as well as helming the production duties for the Academy Awards telecast twice. (She was the first woman to produce the show solo in 2002 and garnered multiple Emmy awards for the feat.)
A producing partner of Sally Field's, Ziskin began her career as a producer at Touchstone and became the president of Fox 2000 during the Pretty Woman era. One of a handful of Hollywood's most powerful women, she also executive produced As Good As It Gets, which- let's be honest- may be Jack Nicholson's last good movie.
When Ziskin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she drew on her contacts in the industry to produce Stand Up To Cancer, a star-studded televised event broadcast to fundraise for cancer research, with appearances from Josh Brolin, Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poitier, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, and Charlize Theron.
(Fun fact about Ziskin: she fought with Fight Club director David Fincher to omit the infamous Helena Bonham-Carter line "I want to have your abortion." Ziskin told Fincher to replace it with anything; nothing could possibly be more offensive. When Fincher complied, replacing it with "Oh my God, I haven't been f*cked like that since grade school," Ziskin came up to Fincher and begged him to put the abortion line back in.)
RIP, Laura Ziskin.
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