caption children birth_place nationality parents birth_date spouse yearsactive article_title name occupation
alan ladd , jr. kelliann ladd tracy ladd amanda ladd chelsea ladd los angeles , california , united states american alan ladd marjorie jane harrold 22 october 1937 patricia -lrb- 1985 -- present -rrb- ann -lrb- 1959 -- 1983 -rrb- cindra ladd 1970 -- present alan ladd , jr. .
 alan ladd , jr. . film producer
alan ladd , jr. .

alan ladd , jr. -lrb- born october 22 , 1937 in los angeles , california , usa -rrb- is an american film industry executive and producer .
he is the son of actor alan ladd and ladd 's first wife marjorie jane -lrb- née harrold -rrb- , whom ladd had met in high school .
he is famous for giving george lucas the go-ahead to make '' '' and remained as lucas ' only support at times when the board of directors of 20th century fox wished to shut down production .
the production was plagued by location difficulties , story problems and budgetary disagreements for a project that was mainly considered a pending embarrassment before the studio likely closed its doors .
however , when ladd saw first hand the audience 's rapturous appreciation of the film at its first public screening at the northpoint theatre in san francisco in early may 1977 , he was moved to tears at seeing this unlikely production he supported against all odds become a spectacular validation of his efforts .
ladd received the 2,348 th star on the hollywood walk of fame on friday , september 28 , 2007 .
he started in films as an agent in 1963 .
in 1969 , ladd moved to london to produce , making nine films , including `` the walking stick '' , `` a severed head '' , `` villain '' , `` the nightcomers '' , and `` x y & zee '' .
he returned to the states in 1973 to become head of creative affairs at 20th century fox .
during three very successful years ladd was president of fox .
`` star wars '' and `` alien '' were a few of the classics during his tenure .
but in 1979 ladd left his position to found his own production company , the ladd company .
he enjoyed great successes with comedies like `` night shift '' and `` police academy '' , oscar winners `` the right stuff '' and best picture , `` chariots of fire '' , and `` gone baby gone '' that won many film critics awards .
the company also produced the cult classic `` blade runner '' .
in 1985 , ladd joined mgm/ua , eventually becoming chairman and ceo of mgm-pathé communications .
during his tenure mgm/ua enjoyed hits like `` a fish called wanda '' , `` moonstruck '' , and `` thelma & louise '' .
ladd reformed the ladd company with paramount pictures in 1993 where he produced the hits `` the brady bunch movie '' and best picture winner `` braveheart '' .
ladd is now producing independently with the ladd company .
