Oscar-winning producer Alan Ladd Jr. dies at 84

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Alan Ladd Jr., the Oscar-winning producer and studio boss who as a Fox executive greenlit “Star Wars,” has died. He was 84. Ladd died Wednesday, his daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary “Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies,” wrote in a Facebook post. No cause of death was given. The son of “Shane” star Alan Ladd, Ladd Jr. started in the film business as his father’s stuntman but rose to become one of its leading — and most widely liked — executives. Ladd, affectionately known as “Laddie,” was involved in some 14 best-picture nominees, including “Young Frankenstein,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Chariots of Fire” and “Blade Runner.”