Jack Valenti, the former White House aide and film industry lobbyist who instituted the modern movie ratings system and guided Hollywood to the digital age as head of the Motion Picture Association of America, died Thursday at age 85.
Dan Glickman, Valenti's successor at MPAA, said he was "the ultimate leading man." "Jack was a showman, a gentleman, an orator, and a passionate champion of this country, its movies, and the enduring freedoms that made both so important to this world," he said in a statement.
Hilary Rosen, former chief of the Recording Industry Association of America, said on HuffingtonPost.com that Valenti "had the talent -- that rare and fantastically elusive talent possessed by very few people in this world -- Jackie Kennedy and Bill Clinton come to mind -- of making you feel like the most important person in the world when he was talking to you. I feel so lucky to know this first hand."
Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn, who opposed Valenti and the MPAA on nearly every digital copyright policy issue, said that regardless of their differing views, "there was no one in Washington I respected more for his intelligence, his commitment, his integrity and his ability to work across party lines."
Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro called Valenti "a true hero -- in war, in politics and in his nearly four decades of tireless work on behalf of the motion picture industry he loved so much."
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., said Valenti was "the personification of the motion picture industry in Washington" but was much more than a lobbyist. "He had an intense interest in public policy and a wisdom about him that made him an extraordinarily valuable counselor to presidents, to congressmen and senators and to his peers and colleagues."
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