Ronni Chasen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ronni Chasen
Born
Veronica Cohen

October 17, 1946
gunshot
Resting placeHillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPublicist
RelativesLarry Cohen (brother)

Ronni Sue Chasen (October 17, 1946

Academy Award campaigns for more than 100 films during her career, including Driving Miss Daisy in 1989 and The Hurt Locker in 2009.[2]

Chasen was shot and killed on November 16, 2010, while driving home from the premiere of the film

Burlesque.[2] Police concluded that unemployed felon Harold Martin Smith killed her during a random robbery.[3]

Life and career

Chasen was born Veronica Cohen to a

Bronx and the Washington Heights section of Manhattan.[5] She won a series of Duncan Toys Company yo-yo contests held in Morningside Heights as a child.[5][6]

Chasen began her early career as a publicist for her brother, film director Larry Cohen, who hired her as a publicist for his 1973 blaxploitation film, Hell Up in Harlem, which became one of her earliest jobs in the industry.[5]

Chasen became known in

Oscar recognition for Douglas in his role as the money hungry, risk averse character Gordon Gekko.[7] Chasen successfully directed the Oscar campaign for the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year.[6]

In addition to being named the Senior Vice President for Publicity at

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, and brothers David and Thomas Newman.[9] Laura Dunn of the Society of Composers and Lyricists said of Chasen, "She laid the groundwork for so many others on how to be a top publicist in the film music industry representing top composers and songwriters."[10]

According to

Welcome Back Kotter.[11][12]

Chasen was working with Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Zanuck for the Oscar campaign of the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland at the time of her death.[6] Following her murder, Chasen was called "Hollywood's ultimate old-school publicist" by Patrick Goldstein.[12][13]

Death

Chasen was shot in

Burlesque
.

Neighbors near the intersection of Whittier Drive and

Beverly Hills originally reported hearing gunshots in front of their homes, but more calls came into the 911 call center a few moments later stating that a late model, black Mercedes-Benz had run a curb, then hit and toppled a concrete street light. When police arrived, they found Chasen slumped in the driver's seat, the steering wheel airbag inflated, with blood emanating from her nose and chest area, in and out of consciousness with the front passenger side window shattered. Chasen was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[14]

Chasen was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.[6] She was the sister of film director Larry Cohen who died in 2019.[6]

Investigation

SUV or truck that pulled alongside her car.[16] A leaked coroner's report noted that hollow-point bullets might have been used by the gunman.[16]

On December 1, 2010 the

East Hollywood and that the suspect in Ronni Chasen's slaying had been under police surveillance before he killed himself.[16] The Los Angeles Times reported the man, a convicted felon named Harold Martin Smith,[3] was approached by police in the apartment lobby, at which point he pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head.[17] On December 6, 2010 it was reported that the man was no longer considered a person of interest in the murder. However, on December 8, 2010 the Beverly Hills Police Department declared its preliminary conclusion that Chasen's murder had been a random act of violence, a robbery attempt turned violent. According to the police, the gun the suspect used to kill himself was the same one used to murder Chasen. Police said they believed the man acted alone and it was in no way connected with road rage – an operating theory the previous week. An anonymous tip through America's Most Wanted stated that the suspect began bragging to neighbors that he shot Chasen and got $10,000 for it,[18] but the final police report stated that the killing was a failed robbery.[19]

References

  1. ^ Longtime Hollywood publicist shot to death in Beverly Hills
  2. ^
    Beverly Hills Courier. 2010-11-21. Archived from the original
    on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Daniel (January 19, 2011). [1]Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine The Hollywood Reporter
  4. ^ Jewish Daily Forward: "Chasen Was a Hollywood Story, in Life and Death" by Rex Weiner November 24, 2010
  5. ^
    New York Times
    . Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  6. ^ a b c d e Higgins, Bill (2010-11-21). "Hollywood publicist laid to rest at emotional funeral". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  7. ^ CBS News Online Source 3, November 17, 2010
  8. ^ UK Telegraph Source 4, November 17, 2010
  9. ^ Soundtrack.net Source 5, November 17, 2010
  10. ^ "Biz offers Chasen tributes" (Nov. 16, 2010) Variety
  11. ^ L.A. Times Source 6, November 17, 2010
  12. ^ a b Goldstein, Patrick (2010-11-16). "Ronni Chasen: Hollywood's ultimate old-school publicist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  13. ^ L.A. Times Source 1, November 17, 2010
  14. ^ Radar Online, Source 2, November 17, 2010
  15. ^ http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Celebs/chasen,%20ronni_report.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ a b c KABC-TV News article: "Man linked to Chasen murder shoots self."
  17. LA Times article: "Suspect in Ronni Chasen slaying had been under police surveillance before he killed himself
    ."
  18. ^ Associated Press (December 9, 2010). "Suicide gun linked to Ronni Chasen's murder". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  19. ^ Staff (October 3, 2011). "Ronni Chasen Murder Case Tipster Sues Over Reward". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 4, 2022.

External links

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