Bill Immerman obit

Bill Immerman, Veteran Film Executive, Dies at 85

Studios under his watch released movies including 'Wild in the Streets,' 'Star Wars,' 'Young Frankenstein,' 'Ray' and 'Sahara.' 

He was not on the list.

Bill Immerman, the veteran film executive who worked for American International Pictures, Fox, Cannon Pictures, Crusader Entertainment and the Yari Film Group during his long career, has died. He was 85.

Immerman died June 24 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, his wife, Ginger Perkins, announced.

Born in New York on Dec. 29, 1937, Immerman received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1959 and his doctor of law degree from Stanford Law School in 1963.

He joined AIP in 1965 as associate counsel and rose to vice president in charge of business affairs and a production executive, working on features including Wild in the Streets (1968), Three in the Attic (1968) and An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970).

He segued to 20th Century Fox in 1972 as vp business affairs and represented the studio on the board of directors of the MPAA and the AMPTP while graduating to senior executive vp and one of three members of the office of the president.

During his tenure, Fox released Young Frankenstein (1974), The Omen (1976), Star Wars (1977) and Silver Streak (1976), and he was the executive in charge of the original 1975-79 Broadway production of The Wiz.

From 1979-90, he served as chairman and president of Cinema Group Inc., which raised start-up money from Wall Street through an initial private placement and subsequent public offering.

He then was vice chairman at Cannon Pictures from 1990-2000; senior executive vp and COO at Crusader Entertainment from 2000-04, when the company made Ray (2004) and Sahara (2005); and senior executive vp and COO from 2004-09 at the Yari Film Group, which released The Illusionist (2006) while he was there.

He finished up at Nutmeg Film Productions, RSVP Entertainment, Tribune Pictures and Gold Tree Films/Gold Tree Studios.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his children, Scott, Eric and Lara.

A “going away party” for Immerman will be held at 6 p.m. on July 21 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Please RSVP to his wife at Ginger@FranticRedhead.com if wishing to attend.