Lawrence Gordon (producer)

Lawrence Gordon (born March 25, 1936) is an American producer and motion picture executive.  He specializes in producing action-oriented films and other genres.  Some of his most popular productions include Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Point Break (1991), Boogie Nights (1997) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). 

Life and career
Gordon was raised in a Jewish family in Belzoni, Mississippi.  He graduated from Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.  He has enjoyed a long career in film.  After moving to Los Angeles he began his career working for Aaron Spelling.  He quickly moved up the ranks and began co-producing for Spelling and in the early 1980s created the TV series Matt Houston. 

In the 1970s he was a key executive at American International Pictures. 

He served as President of 20th Century Fox from 1984 to 1986. 

In 1989, he produced Field of Dreams, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. 
He subsequently formed Largo Entertainment which was backed by the Japanese company JVC.  This was revolutionary as it was the first time a Japanese company had seriously invested in a film enterprise.  
Under the Largo Entertainment banner, Gordon produced Point Break (1991), Mulholland Falls (1996), G.I. Jane (1997), and 23 other films. 

In 1994, he left Largo.  Gordon Company was split up into two companies Golar, in tandem with the Lawrence Gordon Productions shingle headed by Lawrence Gordon, and Daybreak Productions, headed up by Charles Gordon over the late 1990s. 

Gordon also had an independent production deal with Universal Pictures under the shingle Lawrence Gordon Productions.  Under Lawrence Gordon Productions, he produced Jumpin' Jack Flash, Boogie Nights, Mystery Men, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider franchise, the Hellboy franchise and Watchmen. 

Gordon has been credited with giving some of the most prolific producers their start in entertainment such as Joel Silver, Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal, and James L. Brooks. 

He has three children including filmmaker and musician, George Joseph Gordon, who is married to the sister of the late Wall Street Journal columnist Michael J. Ybarra. 

Selected filmography
All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted. 

Film

Miscellaneous crew

Television

As writer

References

External links

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/business/media/michael-j-ybarra-author-and-extreme-sports-reporter-is-dead-at-45.html

Category:1936 births
Category:Living people
Category:American film producers
Category:American film studio executives
Category:20th Century Fox people
Category:American Jews
Category:People from Belzoni, Mississippi
Category:People from Yazoo City, Mississippi
Category:Tulane University alumni