Bethlyn Hand, who served as senior vice chairman of promoting and administration for the Motion Picture Association of America, died Feb. 14 of Alzheimer’s illness. She was 85 years outdated.
Hand joined the Hollywood commerce group shortly after Jack Valenti started his 37-year tenure as MPA president in 1966.
“She was by my facet on the very starting of my tenure on the MPAA,” Valenti mentioned in 2003, 4 years earlier than his loss of life in 2007. “I received lots of credit score for what she did.”
Working with the MPAA, Hand’s obligations included the approval of promoting campaigns aligning with the rules of its scores program — an obligation that usually spurred studio executives and producers to satisfy together with her to plead their instances. In the ’90s, Hand was named one among Hollywood’s strongest girls by the Hollywood Reporter.
“With the teenage motion pictures, there’s at all times much more intercourse that entrepreneurs need within the promoting than we’ll conform to. With a trailer, you’re a captive viewers,” Hand as soon as remarked about her obligations.
Hand was born Jan. 30, 1938. She was raised in Houston, Texas earlier than finding out journalism on the University of Texas. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1966 to work alongside Valenti. In 1975, she moved to Los Angeles to function the top of the MPAA’s promoting division.
Along together with her time on the MPAA, Hand additionally served on the Public Relations Coordinating Committee, which dealt with press inquiries in the course of the Oscars. She was additionally a member of the general public relations department of the Academy and served as vice chairman of the California Film Commission.
“It has been a splendidly rewarding profession by which I’ve made long-lasting friendships,” Hand mentioned in a 2003 assertion saying her retirement.
Hand is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Lloyd and Ann Hand; her three nieces, Bridget Taylor, Susan Hand and Cahtherine Hand; her 5 great-nieces and nephews; and her 4 great-great-nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will probably be organized by Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Mortuary. To commemorate Hand, the household asks that donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund or the Alzheimer’s Association.
