Linda Obst, executive producer of 'Sleepless in Seattle' and co-producer of 'Flashdance,' dies at 74

Linda Obst, who produced credits in high-profile films including “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Flashdance” and “Adventures in Babysitting,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 74.

“I was extremely proud of him. She was a trailblazer for women in the industry at a time when it was very difficult for women to hold prominent roles. He was passionate about his work but even more passionate about his family,” said his brother, WME's Rick Rosen. diversity.

Obst told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year that he was battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Most recently, she has worked as a producer or executive producer on TV series including “The Hot Zone”, “Good Girls Revolt”, “Hot in Cleveland” and “Helix”. In 2014, Obst's final feature production was Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar.” Her other credits included “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Hope Floats,” “Bad Girls” and “The Fisher King.”

Obst began editing the book “The Sixties”, which was later turned into a mini-series, and worked as an editor at the New York Times Magazine. After moving to Los Angeles, he landed a development job with Peter Guber at Casablanca Records and Filmworks, where he found and developed the script that would become his first production credit, “Flashdance”.

Paramount's Dawn Steele encouraged her to partner with producer Debra Hill in one of the first all-female production companies, where they produced “The Adventures of Babysitting,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and “The Fisher King.”

After meeting Nora Ephron a few years earlier through Obst's husband, literary agent David Obst, she made her directorial debut with Ephron's “This Is My Life.” He went on to executive produce “Sleepless in Seattle” and served as producer or executive producer on “One Fine Day,” Robert Zemeckis' “Contact,” “Hope Floats,” “The Siege” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 day.”

A number of her productions were still in development, including “K-Pop: Lost in America,” “The Female Persuasion,” a Hart biopic and a Sally Ride mini-series.

Obst was honored by Women in Film in 2016 for “blading a path for female producers.”

A former journalist, Obst wrote two popular books about the industry: “Hello, He Lead and Other Tales from the Hollywood Trenches” and “Hollywood's Sleepless: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business.”

Fruit was also an Oscar columnist with David Edelstein for New York magazine.

She is survived by her son Ollie Obst, a manager and producer at 3 Arts; brothers Rick Rosen, partner in TV at WME, and Michael Rosen, a former TV producer; and two grandchildren.