--- description: He produced successful franchises like 'The Karate Kid' and 'Ocean's Eleven' title: Jerry Weintraub Reported Dead at 77 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jerry Weintraub Dies at 77 by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 10:48 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 10:48 PM CUT Jerry Weintraub, the well-connected producer behind series like _Ocean’s Eleven_ and _The Karate Kid_, has reportedly died at 77. Former President George H.W. Bush, a close friend, confirmed the news via a spokesperson in a message posted to Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/jgm41/status/618176464328880128) Bush’s joke that Weintraub was a “black belt name-dropper” was not unfounded: Weintraub worked with everyone from Elvis Presley to Steven Soderbergh, and at 77, he was still working: he was the executive producer behind HBO’s new series _The Brink_, and won his most recent of three Primetime Emmys in 2014 for his work on _Years of Living Dangerously_. Other recent noteworthy production credits include _Behind the Candelabra, 41_ (a documentary about Bush) and the forthcoming _Tarzan_, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie and Samuel L. Jackson, due in 2016. Weintraub held iconic importance to Hollywood insiders, and in 2011, HBO released a documentary about the producer’s massive career: _His Way_, in which his _Ocean’s Eleven_ collaborator Brad Pitt said, “I’m sure he’s got his funeral planned already, and it’s gonna be a great show.” ### Academy Awards: Classic Film Stars With Their Oscars  Vivien Leigh places the Oscar she won for her role as Scarlett in Gone With The Wind on her mantlepiece at home, 1940. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Luise Rainer, the first woman to win two Oscars, holds her Best Actress award for her performance in The Great Ziegfeld during the 1937 Academy Awards ceremony. Rex Hardy Jr.—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Joan Fontaine doing the household bookkeeping next to the Oscar she won for her role in Hitchcok's Suspicion, 1942. Bob Landry—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Elizabeth Taylor at a Hollywood party with the Oscar she won for her role in Butterfield, 1961. Allan Grant—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Grace Kelly with the Oscar she won for her role in The Country Girl, 1955\. William Holden, her co-star in the movie, stands behind her. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Audrey Hepburn with the Oscar she won for Roman Holiday, 1954. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Joanne Woodward smiles radiantly while holding her Best Actress Oscar for her role in Three Faces of Eve, 1958. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress winners Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed (both for From Here to Eternity) and their Oscars, 1954. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Bing Crosby (Going My Way), Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) and Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way) with their Oscars, 1945. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Gloria Grahame with her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful, 1953. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Marlon Brando (right) with his Oscar for On the Waterfront, 1955. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Onstage presenters seen from the wings during the 1950 Academy Awards. Ida Wyman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Jimmy Stewart, back from WWII, talks with the oldest employee of his family's hardware store in Pennsylvania, George Little; nearby is a table of various mementos, including Stewart's Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia Story. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Joan Crawford with her Best Actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce, 1946. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3947331/jerry-weintraub-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3947331/jerry-weintraub-dead/"},"headline":"Jerry Weintraub Dies at 77","datePublished":"2015-07-06T22:48:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:38.267Z","description":"He produced successful films like The Karate Kid and the Ocean's Eleven franchise","url":"https://time.com/3947331/jerry-weintraub-dead/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3947331/jerry-weintraub-dead/","name":"Jerry Weintraub Dies at 77"}}]}] ```