Robert Chartoff, who, with producing partner Irwin Winkler, produced some of the most acclaimed films of the 1970s and 1980s, died Wednesday. He was 81.
Chartoff died at his Santa Monica home following a battle with pancreatic cancer, reports The Hollywood Reporter. His last project released before his death was Ender’s Game in 2013, although he does have a producing credit on two upcoming Sylvester Stallone films.
Chartoff-Winkler Productions began in 1967, the year they produced John Boorman’s unique Lee Marvin film Point Blank. Other productions include Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, The Mechanic, the original The Gambler with James Caan, Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York and True Confessions.
However, their best-known productions are their Best Picture nominees. They won the 1976 Best Picture Oscar for Rocky, which made Stallone a star. In an interview in 2004, Chartoff said that what attracted him to Stallone’s script was the fact that Rocky Balboa didn’t finish as a champion at the end. It was about reaching the goal of fighting for a title, not just needing to win it. The film was made for under $1 million and had support of United Artists, who wanted another star, but Stallone refused.
Rocky launched one of cinema’s most iconic franchises and Chartoff and Winkler produced four more Rocky films. Variety notes that he will have a producing credit on the spin-off Creed, as well as Stallone’s Scarpa.
Chartoff and Winkler also produced cinema’s other great boxing story, Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. While it didn’t win Best Picture, Robert De Niro did win Best Actor. They also received a Best Picture nomination for 1983’s The Right Stuff.
Chartoff is survived by his wife and five children.