SHERRY LANSING Biography - Bussiness people and enterpreneurs

 
 

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SHERRY LANSING

Name: Sherry Lansing                                                                 
Born July 31, 1944 Chicago, Illinois                                                 
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
Sherry Lansing (born July 31, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois as Sherry Lee Heimann)       
is the former CEO of Paramount Pictures and the first woman to head a major           
studio. In 2001 she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by         
Ladies Home Journal.                                                                 
                                                                                       
Her mother fled from Nazi Germany at age 17, and spoke no English when she           
arrived in the United States. Lansing attended the University of Chicago             
Laboratory Schools and graduated in 1962. She earned a B.A. from Northwestern         
University where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority.                       
                                                                                       
She pursued an acting career (appearing in two films made in 1970, Loving and         
Rio Lobo, starring John Wayne) but, dissatisfied with her own acting skills, she     
decided to learn more about the film industry from the ground up. She took a job     
with MGM as head script reader and worked on two successful movies, The China         
Syndrome and Kramer vs. Kramer.                                                       
                                                                                       
In 2005, she created The Sherry Lansing Foundation which is dedicated to raising     
awareness and funds for cancer research. She is a recipient of UCLA Anderson         
School of Management's highest honor-the Exemplary Leadership in Management (ELM)     
Award.                                                                               
                                                                                       
In 2007, she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her work in           
cancer research at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. The award was presented to         
her by Tom Cruise, her longtime friend and business partner.                         
                                                                                       
Lansing married Academy award winning director William Friedkin on 6 July 1991.