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Lynda Rosen Obst (April 14, 1950 – October 22, 2024) was an American film producer and author.

Background

Obst was born in New York City on April 14, 1950, and grew up in Harrison adjacent to White Plains, New York. She was a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California, and studied philosophy in the graduate program at Columbia University.

Obst was set up on a blind date with physicist Kip Thorne by physicist Carl Sagan. They dated in 1979-1980, and parted and remained friends, to the extent that they later collaborated on the movie Interstellar.

She was married to producer David Obst. Their son, Oly is a producer and artist manager. Rick Rosen, one of the founders of the Endeavor talent agency, was Lynda's younger brother.

Lynda Obst died at her home in Los Angeles on October 22, 2024, at the age of 74. She had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the time of her death, having been a longtime smoker.

Career

Obst worked as an editor at The New York Times before moving to Los Angeles with her husband David Obst. Beginning at The Geffen Film Company as a d-girl, her first major project was developing scripts which eventually became Flashdance.

Obst partnered with Debra Hill in 1986. They produced Adventures in Babysitting, Heartbreak Hotel, and The Fisher King among other projects. After The Fisher King (1991), Obst and Hill parted ways; Obst became an in-studio producer and produced notable films including Sleepless in Seattle, One Fine Day, Someone Like You, Contact, Hope Floats, and The Siege. In 1989, Obst founded a production company, Lynda Obst Productions. Initially based at Columbia Pictures, it moved to 20th Century Fox in 1993. By 2007, the company was named Obst/Rosen Productions.

In 2009, Obst completed principal photography as producer on The Invention of Lying (originally titled "This Side of the Truth" and the directing and co-writing debut of Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson) starring Gervais and Jennifer Garner. It was released in October 2009. She was the producer of Gurinder Chadha's Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, released by Nickelodeon in 2008. In 2014, Obst collaborated with director Christopher Nolan and co-produced Interstellar, a science-fiction drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. It marked the first time her production company, Lynda Obst Productions, was credited with a production.

Obst was the author of the memoir Hello, He Lied (1996), detailing her experiences in the modern studio system. She was one of the central figures in the battle over the Richard Preston book, Crisis in the Hot Zone.

Lynda Obst Productions

LRO Enterprises, Ltd., doing business as Lynda Obst Productions, is an American film and television production company started by Lynda Obst. She formed the company in 1989 and moved it to Columbia Pictures. In 1993, her company moved to 20th Century Fox. While Obst had producer credits for films from the 1980s to present, Interstellar was the first to display her company banner.

Film and television

• Interstellar (2014) – film
• Good Girls Revolt (2015–2016) – television
• The Hot Zone (2019) – television

Filmography

Obst was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Thanks

Television

As writer

Publications

• The Sixties (Random House: New York, NY, 1978. ISBN 978-0394732398)
• Dirty Dreams: A Novel (New Amer Library Trade: New York, NY, 1990. ISBN 0-453-00731-7)
• Hello, He Lied (Little, Brown & Company: New York, NY, 1996. ISBN 0-316-62211-7)
• Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business (Simon & Schuster: New York, NY, 2013. ISBN 978-1476727745)

References

1. ^ Lynda Obst, TCM, retrieved 8 February 2014
2. ^ "Lynda Obst, Veteran Film Producer, Champion of Women in Hollywood and Writer, Dies at 74". The Hollywood Reporter. October 22, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
3. About us, Lynda Obst Productions, retrieved 8 February 2014
4. StarTalk - Black Hole Time Travel - Discussing the science of Interstallar with the Science Advisor, Kip Thorne, Neil deGrasse Tyson StarTalk, 2024-12-03
5. McNary, Pamela McClintock,Dave; McClintock, Pamela; McNary, Dave (March 20, 2007). "Obst, Rosen team up". Variety. Retrieved April 25, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. "LRO ENTERPRISES, LTD". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
7. Hindes, Andrew (January 12, 1999). "Par's Obst tackle". Variety. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
8. Eller, Claudia (January 5, 1993). "Obst moving shingle from Sony to Fox lot". Variety. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
9. Fleming, Mike (August 13, 2013). "Christopher Nolan Starts 'Interstellar'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
10. Spangler, Todd (October 24, 2016). "Spin Promotes Amazon's 'Good Girls Revolt' With One-Time Revival of Print Mag (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
11. Young, Sage. "How Historically Accurate Is 'Good Girls Revolt'? The Amazon Series Stays True To The Era". Retrieved October 30, 2016.

External links

• Lynda Obst at IMDb
• Lynda Obst Productions
• Lynda Obst discography at Discogs
• Interview with Lynda Obst for The Women Take Over

• 1950 births
• 2024 deaths
• 21st-century American women
• Film producers from California
• American memoirists
• Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
• Pomona College alumni
• The New York Times editors
• Writers from New York City
• American women memoirists
• American women film producers
• Film producers from New York (state)
• Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Respiratory disease deaths in California