Jerry Weintraub

The man behind films ranging from "Nashville" through the recent "Ocean's Eleven" series - not to mention countless Broadway shows and concerts, including a history-making nationwide tour by Elvis Presley - Jerry Weintraub fit the bill of "producer" in the most classically recognized sense. He was silver-haired, lightly tanned, and perennially optimistic, yet incredibly superstitious, carefully avoiding talking too much about the past or the future - a lamentable choice considering the stories he could have told. Perhaps knowing all too well how easily the best assembled plans could suddenly fall apart, Weintraub often referred to himself as simply very lucky in his Hollywood success. He was however, being modest, as his sheer output of quality projects through the years more than backed up his standing as one of the best producers in town. His death from a heart attack on July 6, 2015 ended the reign of one of Hollywood's most beloved producers.