Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of Valhalla Entertainment (formerly Pacific Western Productions)[1] and a former recording secretary for the Producers Guild of America.[2] Notable works include The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Armageddon, Mankiller (a documentary about the late Wilma Mankiller) and The Walking Dead.
Gale Anne Hurd | |
---|---|
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | October 25, 1955
Education | Stanford University (BA) |
Occupation(s) | Film and television producer |
Years active | 1980–present |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Early life
editGale Anne Hurd was born on October 25, 1955, in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Lolita (née Jordan) and Frank E. Hurd, an investor.[3] She grew up in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California and graduated from Palm Springs High School in 1973.[4] Hurd attended Stanford University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and communications with a minor in political science in 1977.[5]
Film career
editShe joined New World Pictures as executive assistant to Roger Corman, the company president. She worked her way up through various administrative positions and eventually became involved in production.[6] She formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, in 1982 and went on to produce a number of box-office hits including the James Cameron films The Terminator (1984, the screenplay for which she co-wrote with Cameron, her sole screenwriting credit),[7] Aliens (1986), and The Abyss (1989).[8]
In 1989 she played a pivotal role in keeping the American Film Institute from honoring director Elia Kazan, because of his role 37 years earlier in naming communists when called before the House Un-American Activities Committee.[9][1]
In 1998, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[10]
In 2003, she was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology at Telluride, Colorado, along with Arthur C. Clarke.[11]
In 2010, the drama series she produced, The Walking Dead, began airing on AMC.[12]
Hurd became a governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2011.[13]
On October 3, 2012, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[14]
In 2013, Hurd was awarded the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award from the Athena Film Festival, at Barnard College in New York City. The award honors her as a woman in the film industry whose leadership demonstrates vision and courage and sets a standard for other women to emulate.[15]
Hurd was awarded the Fangoria Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for her body of work in the horror and science fiction genres.[16]
Personal life
editHurd was married to James Cameron from 1985 to 1989;[17] to director Brian De Palma from 1991 to 1993, with whom she has one daughter, Lolita De Palma;[18][19] and to screenwriter/director Jonathan Hensleigh since 1995.[20]
Filmography
editFilm
editTelevision
editYear | Title | Credit |
---|---|---|
1989-1990 | Alien Nation | Consultant |
1991 | Cast a Deadly Spell | Producer |
1994 | Sugartime | Executive Producer |
1995 | Witch Hunt | Producer |
1996 | Tremors II: Aftershocks | Executive Consultant |
2002–2003 | Adventure Inc. | Executive Producer |
2004 | The Coven | Executive Producer |
2007 | Welcome to the Jungle | Producer |
2010 | The Wronged Man | Executive Producer |
2010–2022 | The Walking Dead | Executive Producer |
2011 | Last Man Standing | Executive Producer |
2013 | Horizon | Executive Producer |
2015–2022 | Talking Dead | Consulting Producer |
2015–2023 | Fear the Walking Dead | Executive Producer |
2016 | Hunters | Executive Producer |
2016-2018 | Falling Water | Executive Producer |
2017–2018 | Lore | Executive Producer |
2020–2021 | The Walking Dead: World Beyond | Executive Producer |
2022 | Tales of the Walking Dead | Executive Producer |
2023–present | The Walking Dead: Dead City | Executive Producer |
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon | Executive Producer | |
2024 | The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live | Executive Producer |
References
edit- ^ "Gale Anne Hurd". Valhalla Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ "Walking Dead Atlanta Recruitment Event". Producers Guild of America. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ "Gale Anne Hurd Biography (1955–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
- ^ Fessier, Bruce (January 10, 2018). "'Walking Dead' producer returns home to present 'Mankiller' at Palm Springs festival". The Desert Sun. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ David, Mark (May 23, 2007). "Gale Anne Hurd and Jonathan Hensleigh's Pasadena Palace". Variety. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ Harris, Janelle (August 14, 2013). "So What do You Do, Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer of the Walking Dead?". Mediabistro. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
- ^ "Dispatches From the Set – Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd". AMC. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010.
- ^ "TV: First 'The Walking Dead' Webisode Takes Us to Zombie School". BloodyDisgusting. June 11, 2010.
- ^ Goldstein, Patrick (January 15, 1999). "Film Director Elia Kazan to Receive Oscar, Forgiveness". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ "Gale Anne Hurd Biography". Madeinatlantis.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
- ^ "Women in Horror Month: Gale Anne Hurd, the Harbinger of Mainstream Horror". Fangoria. February 18, 2015. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ "Executive Producer". AMC. October 18, 2012.
- ^ Kilday, Gregg (June 24, 2011). "Producer Gale Anne Hurd and Composer David Newman Join Academy Board". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ "Producing the unseen". Variety. October 3, 2012.
- ^ "The 2013 Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award". athenafilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ "Never mind Oscar, here's the 2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Nominees Ballot!". Fangoria. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ Holson, Laura M. (June 16, 2003). "The Terminator and the Hulk Help Build a Career". New York Times.
- ^ "Gale Anne Hurd Biography". Madeinatlantis.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
- ^ Holson, Laura M. (June 16, 2003). "The Terminator and the Hulk Help Build a Career". New York Times.
- ^ "'Walking Dead' Producer Gale Anne Hurd Steps into $7.3 Million Mount Olympus Contemporary". www.yahoo.com. October 14, 2021. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
External links
edit- Gale Anne Hurd at IMDb
- Official Twitter page
- Official company website Archived April 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine